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I  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,* 

$>  Princeton,  N.  J. 


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A    HISTORY 

... 

OF   THE 

- 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 

MADISON,     N.J. 


DELIVERED    O.V 


THANKSGIVING  DAY,  NOVEMBER  2  3.   1854, 


REV,  SAMUEL  L.  TUTTLE, 


PASTOR       OF      THS      CHURCH. 


NEW     YORK: 
PUBLISHED    BY    M.     W.     DODD, 

CORNER  SPRUCE  ST.   AND   CITY   HALL  SQUARE. 

1855. 


Jfcfc* 


PEinas 


.     01  9  I) 

Madison,  November  25,JL8j54. 
Rev.  Samuel  L.  Tuttle, — 

Respected  and  Esteemed  Pastor  : — The  historical 
discourse  which  you  were  kind  enough  to  present  to  us  on 
Thanksgiving  Day,  the  23d  instant,  in  relation  to  the  rise  and 
progress  of  this  church  and  congregation,  excited  in  our  minds 
a  very  great  degree  of  interest ;  and  we  take  this  method  of 
saying  to  you,  that  the  service  which  you  have,  in  this  way, 
rendered  to  this  community,  and  especially  to  ourselves  and 
our  fellow-parishioners,  is  held  by  us  all,  in  high  appreciation. 
Believing,  too,  that  if  the  facts  embodied  in  that  discourse 
could  be  given  to  the  public,  in  a  permanent  form,  many 
important  interests  would  be  subserved,  we  take  the  liberty  of 
asking  you — as  we  do  most  respectfully — to  place  a  copy  of  it 
at  our  disposal,  with  a  view  to  its  publication. 


With  sentiments  of  sincere  respect  and 


H.  P.  GREEN, 
WILLIAM  M.  MUCHMORE, 
ROBERT  ALBRIGHT, 
JOHN  B.  MILLER, 
EVERETT  H.   GREEN, 
JAMES  ALBRIGHT, 
LEWIS  THOMPSON, 
ALBERT  CARTER, 
JOHN  KNAPP, 
GEORGE  E.  SAYRE, 
AMZA  W.  GENUNG, 
CHARLES  C.  FORCE, 
STEPHEN  D.  HUNTING, 
LUTHER  EDDY, 
JOSEPH  S.  SAYRE, 
HENRY  KEEP,    . 
EDWIN  BURROUGHS, 
SAMUEL  P.  BURNET, 
GEORGE  COLE, 
DAVID  H.  ROBERTS, 


esteem, 
Yours,  &c, 

ABRAHAM  BRITTIN, 
ASHBEL  CARTER, 
WILLIAM  BRITTIN, 
SAMUEL  ROBERTS,  Jr., 
LEWIS  M.  BROWNING, 
DAVID  M.  FORCE, 
JONATHAN  B.  BRUEN, 
HtA  BURNET, 
CALEB  C.  BURROUGHS, 
GEORGE  T.  SAYRE, 
AARON  CARTER, 
WILLIAM  P.  CONKLIN, 
DENNIS  F.  CROWELL, 
WM.  JACKSON  BRITTIN, 
DAVID  L.  MILLLER, 
SMITH  S.  HOLLOWAY, 
ALFRED  BRITTIN, 
ICHABOD  BRUEN, 
CHARLES  ROSS, 
JOHN  JOHNSTON. 


NOTE. 

In  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  his  respected  and  esteemed 
parishioners,  in  reference  to  the  publication  of  the  following 
"  Historical  Discourse,"  the  Author  begs  leave  to  state,  that,  in 
its  original  preparation,  he  had  not  the  most  remote  conception 
that  any  such  use  would  ever  be  made  of  it ;  but  that  his  simple 
and  sole  object  was,  the  gratification  and  encouragement  of  his 
congregation,  on  the  occasion  of  its  first  delivery.  It  was,  at 
that  time,  contained  within  the  limits  of  an  ordinary  discourse. 
Since  its  publication  has  been  suggested,  however,  it  has  seemed 
to  him,  that,  by  adding  a  few  facts,  and  going  somewhat  more 
into  detail  than  he  did  at  first,  a  service  might  be  rendered,  at 
least  to  the  people  of  his  charge,  by  converting  it  into  a  small 
book  of  reference  for  their  use.  This  will  account  for  the 
greatly  increased  length  of  the  discourse  ;  and  also  for  the  fact, 
that  so  many  things  have  been  introduced,  which  would  not  have 
been  suitable  for  the  pulpit,  and  which  were  not  in  it,  on  the 
occasion  when  it  was  first  presented. 

The  Author  has  no  other  object  in  giving  up  these  researches 
to  his  people's  disposal,  than  to  subserve  their  interests  as  a 
society,  and  to  preserve  matters  of  history  pertaining  to  the 
pious  and  self-sacrificing  efforts  of  their  ancestors,  which  he 
thinks  ought  not  to  be  lost. 


"  Then  Samuel  took  a  stone,  and  set  it  up  between  Mizpeh  and 
Shen,  and*  called  the  name  of  it  Ebenezer,  saying,  Hitherto  hath 
the  Lord  helped  us." — 1  Samuel  vii.  12. 

The  occasion  of  this  incident  was  a  celebrated 
victory,  gained  by  the  Israelites  over  their  ene- 
mies, the  Philistines.  The  Israelites,  by  their 
sins,  having  provoked  the  divine  displeasure, 
Samuel  assembled  their  tribes  at  Mizpeh,  about 
eighteen  miles  northwest  of  Jerusalem,  with  a 
view  to  their  making  confession  of  their  sins,  and 
securing  the  divine  forgiveness.  The  Philistines, 
hearing  of  this  great  convocation,  and  supposing 
that  they  were  making  preparations  to  give  them 
battle,  went  up  against  them  with  a  very  great 
army,  and  encamped  before  Mizpeh.  The  Israelites, 
having  been  taken  by  surprise,  were  alarmed,  and 
besought  Samuel  to  cry  unto  the  Lord  for  their  de- 


6  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

liverance,  "And  Samuel  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and 
the  Lord  heard  him  ;"  and  when  the  Philistines 
drew  near  to  battle  against  Israel,  "the  Lord 
thundered  with  a  great  thunder"  upon  the  Philis- 
tines and  discomfited  them.  "And  the  men  of 
Israel  went  out  of  Mizpeh,  and  pursued  the  Philis- 
tines, and  smote  them  until  they  came  under 
Beth  Car." 

In  these  circumstances  it  was  that  Samuel  per- 
formed the  act  recorded  in  the  text.  Deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  the  victory  thus 
secured  was  from  Grod,  "  he  took  a  stone,  and  set 
it  between  Mizpeh  and  Shen,  and  called  the  name 
of  it  Ebenezer,"  or  the  stone  of  help,  "saying, 
'  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us.'  " 

This  act  of  Samuel  is  worthy  of  the  imitation 
of  all  those  who  have  experienced  peculiar  bless- 
ings at  the  hand  of  God  ;  and  I  have  thought  it 
not  altogether  inappropriate  to  our  own  circum- 
stances as  a  Christian  church  and  congregation  ; 
and  for  this  reason  I  have  selected  it  as  a  guide  to 
our  thoughts  on  the  present  occasion.  Having 
sprung  from  an  origin  comparatively  humble ; 
having  been  obliged  to  contend  with  great  difficul- 
ties ;  and  having,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  attained 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  7 

our  present  state  of  influence  and  general  prosper- 
ity ;  it  becomes  us,  as  much  as  it  became  Israel, 
to  pause  a  little  in  our  way,  and,  "setting  up  our 
Ebenezer,"  or  "stone  of  help,"  say,  with  devout 
and  heartfelt  gratitude,  "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us" 

A  brief  review  of  the  history  of  this  church  and 
congregation  will  show  us  the  extent  of  our  in- 
debtedness to  our  divine  Benefactor;  and  lead  us, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  to  a  more  cordial  and  unreserved 
consecration  of  ourselves  to  his  service. 

The  section  of  country  which  we  are  inhabiting 
was  first  settled  in  the  year  1685 ;  about  twenty 
years  after  the  settlement  of  Elizabethtown  and 
Newark.  The  first  settlers  were  principally  from 
the  places  just  named  ;  though  some  of  them  are 
known  to  have  come  here  from  the  New  England 
States,  Long  Island,  and  England.  Attracted  by 
the  fine,  open  character  of  the  country,  but  more 
especially  by  the  iron  ore  imbedded  in  our  hills,  a 
few  enterprising  men  brought  their  families  over, 
what  was  then  called,  "  the  great  mountain  of 
Watchung,"  afterwards  the  "  Newark  mountain;" 
and  located  themselves  at  different  points  in  this 
vicinity.     Large  tracts  of  land  were  purchased  by 


8  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

many"of  them,  of  the  old  "  New  Jersey  Proprie- 
tors ;"  and  while  some  of  them  devoted  themselves 
to  the  clearing  and  cultivation  of  the  soil,  others 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  iron. 

At  a  very  early  period,  a  great  deal  of  capital 
and  skill  were  employed  in  the  business  of  making 
iron  ;  and  for  this  purpose  a  considerable  number 
of  forges*  were  constructed  and  put  in  operation 
within  the  present  limits  of  our  county.  This, 
doubtless,  contributed  largely  towards  the  original 
settlement  of  this  entire  region. 

Among  the  first  settlers  in  this  immediate  vicin- 
ity were  Benjamin   Carter;!  Jeremiah  (xenung ; 

*  One  of  these  forges  stood  on  the  site  of  the  mills  belonging 
to  Mr.  Samuel  Roberts  at  Green  Village  ;  another  near  the  grist- 
mill in  Chatham  village  ;  another  on  the  Whippany  river  ;  another 
in  Troy  ;  another  in  "  Old  Boonton  ;"  another  at  Rockaway  ;  and 
others  at  Hibernia,  Split-Rock  and  elsewhere.  These  establish- 
ments gave  to  this  region  formerly  the  name  of  "  the  Old  Forges," 
by  which  it  continued  to  be  known  for  many  years. 
ji  The  ore  that  was  used  in  these  forges  was  carried  from  the 
mines  on  the  backs  of  horses  :  and  after  it  was  manufactured  into 
iron,  it  was  carried  in  the  same  way  over  the  mountain  to  Eliza- 
bethtown  and  Newark. 

f  This  gentleman  was  the  first  owner  of  the  land  now  occupied 
by  the  village  of  Madison ;  and  his  residence  was  on  the  corner  by 
the  toll-gate,  since  owned  by  Capt.  Mallaby.  He  built  the  first 
grist-mill  that  was  ever  put  up  in  this  vicinity.  This  stood  a  few 
feet  below  the  present  site  of  Springer  and  Lehman's  steam  mill ; 
the  mill-dam  being  built   across   the  valley,  a  few  yards  above 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  9 

Josiah  Broadwell ;  Theophilus  and  Josiah  Miller  ; 
Silas,  Stephen  and  Josiah  Hand  ;  Abraham  and 
David  Cory  ;  Benjamin  Ladner  ;  Lemuel  Hedges  ; 
Zebedee  and  Moses  Potter ;  Aaron,  James  and 
David  Burnet  ;  Jonathan  Thompson  ;  Horick  Ben- 
jamin ;  Samuel  Marsh ;  John  Muchmore  ;  John, 
Samuel  and  Nathaniel  Roberts  ;  Joseph  Wingate  ; 
Daniel,  Paul  and  Stephen  Day  ;  Obadiah  Lum ; 
David  Bruen  ;  Jabez  Linsley  ;  Israel,  Thomas  and 
David  Ward  ;  Nathaniel  and  Benjamin  Bonnel  ; 
and  others,  whose  descendants  are  living  in  our 
midst.  Some  of  these  persons  came  here  from 
New  England,  and  some  from  Long  Island  ;  but 
the  great  majority  of  them  were  from  the  vicinity 
of  Elizabethtown  and  Newark.  They  were,  for  the 
most  part,  consequently,  of  New  England  origin  • 
The  principal  centre  of  these  settlements,  at 
that  time,  and  for  many  years  subsequently,  was 
on  the  Whipponong  river,*  where   the   village   of 


that  point,  and  flowing  the  lands  lying  north  of  the  village  to 
considerable  depth  during  the  rainy  season,  it  being  entirely  dry 
duringthe  summer.    When  this  mill  was  abandoned,  a  horse  mill 
took  its  place. 

*  The  Whipponong  river  received  its  name  from  a  tribe  of 
Indians — the  Whipponongs,  who  formerly  lived  and  ranged  on  its 
banks. 

1* 


10  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

Whippany  now  stands.  Around  this  point,  there 
came,  in  the  progress  of  years,  to  be  collected  a 
very  considerable  population ;  and  in  the  year 
1700,  a  township*  was  set  off  here,  bearing  the 
name  of  the  river  above  mentioned,  and  embracing 
all  that  territory  which  is  now  included  in  the 
townships  of  Morris,  Chatham,  and  Hanover. 
This  new  township  was  then  within  the  limits  of 
the  county  of  Hunterdon,!  which  at  that  time 
embraced  all  the  territory  within  the  present 
county  of  that  name,  and  that,  also,  which  is  now 
in  the  counties  of  Morris,  Sussex,  and  Warren. 

The  first  church  ever  organized  in  what  is  now 
the  county  of  Morris,  was  the  old  Presbyterian 
church  in  Whippany,  which  was  formed  about 
the  year  1718.  At  that  time,  this  entire  region 
was  almost  an  uninterrupted  wilderness.  Indian 
tribes  were  ranging  over  these  hills  and  valleys, 
and  beasts  of  prey  were  roaming  without  molesta- 


*  The  township  of  Whipponong  changed  its  name  to  that  of 
Hanover,  about  the  year  1740. 

f  The  county  of  Morris  was  set  off  from  the  county  of  Hunter- 
don by  an  act  of  the  Assembly  in  the  year  1738  ;  and  at  that 
time,  and  for  several  years  afterwards,  it  embraced  all  the  terri- 
tory within  its  present  limits,  as  well  as  that  of  the  counties  of 
Sussex  and  Warren. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  11 

tion  through  almost  unbroken  forests.  There 
were  but  few  farms  cleared  and  cultivated  ;  there 
were  but  few  dwellings  erected  ;  the  population 
was  very  sparsely  distributed  over  the  territory, 
and  there  were  but  few  conveniences  and  priv- 
ileges enjoyed.  Morristown  had  not  then  begun 
to  be  considered  even  a  village.  Having  com- 
menced only  about  ten  years  before  this  time,  it 
was  not  until  about  sixty  years  afterwards  that  it 
contained  a  population  of  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
Newark,  which  had  been  settled  about  forty  years, 
by  persons  from  Connecticut,  at  that  time  con- 
tained a  population  of  less  than  three  hundred  ; 
and  Elizabethtown,  which  was  then  the  centre  of 
trade  for  this  part  of  New  Jersey,  was,  compara- 
tively, but  an  insignificant  village.  In  Basking- 
ridge,  some  Scotch  Presbyterian  families,  who  had 
settled  there,  were  worshipping  in  a  log  meeting- 
house, which  they  had  erected  a  year  or  two  pre- 
viously. In  the  village  of  Springfield,  there  were 
but  three  dwelling-houses  standing ;  and  the  resi- 
dents were  considered  as  belonging  to  the  congre- 
gation in  Elizabethtown  ;  whither,  it  is  said,  they 
were  accustomed  to  walk  on  the  Sabbath,  in  order 
to  attend  divine  worship.     Bloomfield,  Orange,  and 


12  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.    MADISON. 

Belleville,  were  small  outskirt  settlements  belong- 
ing to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Newark. 
The  villages  of  Hanover,  Parsippany,  New  Ver- 
non, Boonton,  and  Chatham,  were  not  yet  in  exist- 
ence. There  were  no  houses  of  worship  of  any 
order,  in  either  of  the  places  which  have  just  been 
named  ;  nor  in  Morristown,  Rockaway,  Mend- 
ham,  Green  Village,  or  this  place,  which,  at 
that  time,  and  for  many  years  subsequently,  was 
called  Bottle  Hill.*  The  only  church  that 
existed  in  all  this  wide  extent  of  country,  was  the 
one  referred  to  in  Whippany.  That  church,  which 
was  a  plain  wooden  structure,  covered  on  all  sides 


*  With  respect  to  the  origin  of  the  name,  "Bottle  Hill,"  there 
are  various  traditions.  One  is,  that  it  was  first  called  "Battle 
Hill,"  from  some  great  battle  that  was  fought  near  the  present 
academy,  by  hostile  tribes  of  Indians.  Another  is,  that  two 
Indians,  in  quarrelling  near  the  spring  in  that  vicinity,  broke  a 
bottle,  from  which  circumstance  it  is  thought  by  some  to  have 
taken  its  name.  Another,  and  the  most  plausible,  as  well  as  the 
most  ignoble  one  is,  that  a  bottle  suspended  from  a  sign-post,  at  an 
early  period  in  the  history  of  this  place,  designated  the  first 
tavern  that  was  ever  kept  here.  That  tavern  was  located  on  the 
corner,  subsequently  the  property  of  Mr.  Ellis  Cook,  opposite  the 
academy.  In  corroboration  of  this  theory,  it  is  stated  that 
Major  Luke  Miller,  who  died  in  this  place  a  few  years  since,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  ninety-three,  stated  that  he  remembered  to 
have  seen  the  bottle  suspended  there,  as  above  described,  for  sev- 
eral years  during  the  period  of  his  youth. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  13 

with  shingles,  and  without  spire  or  cupola,  stood 
on  the  present  burying-plot  in  that  village,  in  front 
of  the  residence  of  Mr.  Calvin  Howell,  and  adjoin- 
ing the  homestead  of  Mr.  Silas  Tuttle.  The  first 
pastor  of  that  church  was  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Hubbel,*  who  was  ordained  and  installed  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  who  remained 
there  for  about  thirteen  years.  The  second  was 
the  Rev.  John  Nutman,  who  was  settled  in  1730, 
and  left  in  1745,  having  been  there  for  a  period  of 
about  fifteen  years.  The  third  was  the  Rev.  Jacob 
Green, t  father  of  the  late   Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  of 


*  At  that  time  Mr.  Hubbel  preached  both  for  the  church  in 
Whippany,  or,  as  it  was  then  called,  "  East  Hanover,"  and  the  Pres 
by  terian  church  in  Westfield.  Both  congregations  were  then  very, 
feeble,  and  they  were  obliged  to  resort  to  this  method,  in  order 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  labors  of  a  stated  minister.  The  prob- 
ability is,  that  Mr.  Hubbel  preached  on  alternate  Sabbaths  in 
these  two  places. 

f  Rev.  Mr.  Green  continued  to  preach  in  the  old  church  at 
Whippany  until  the  year  1755,  about  eight  years  after  the  church 
in  Madison  was  organized  ;  when,  by  the'advice  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  with  which  the  church  was  at  that  time  connected, 
the  congregation  built  two  houses  of  worship,  one  in  Parsippany, 
the  other  in  Hanover  Neck  (the  old  church  being  entirely  given 
up),  and  Mr.  Green  continued  to  preach  in  both  churches  until 
that  part  of  the  congregation  at  Parsippany  called  the  Rev.  James 
Tuttle  to  become  their  pastor,  when  he  confined  his  labors  to 
Hanover  Neck  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  about 
the  year  1790. 


14  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

Philadelphia,  who  was  settled  in  1746,  and  con- 
tinued the  pastor  of  the  church  for  the  period  of 
forty-four  years.  To  that  place  the  inhabitants  of 
all  this  region  repaired  on  the  Sabbath  day  to 
worship  Grod ;  many  of  them  being  obliged  to 
travel  for  this  purpose  six,  eight,  and,  in  some 
instances,  even  ten  miles. 

In  or  about  the  year  1740,  during  the  ministry 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nutman,  a  small  and  very  feeble 
church  was  organized  and  established  in  Morris- 
town,*  or,  as  it  was  then,  called,  "  West  Hano- 
ver," by  members  of  the  old  Whippany  parish, 
residing  in  that  vicinity.  This  was  the  First 
Presbyterian  church  in  that  village,  of  which  the 

*  That  church  was  organized  in  the  face  of  the  most  strenuous 
opposition.  The  ground  of  the  opposition  was,  the  supposed 
inability  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  old  congregation  to  support 
a  pastor  without  the  assistance  of  the  western.  The  matter  was 
in  agitation  for  several  years  ;  the  Presbytery  was  called  together 
to  give  their  counsel  in  reference  to  it ;  and  it  is  said  that  the 
eastern  part  of  the  parish  proposed  to  decide  it  by  "  the  casting  of 
lots."  The  lot  was  cast,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  proposed 
society  should  not  be  organized.  The  inhabitants  of  Morristown, 
or  West  Hanover,  however,  having,  at  the  outset,  declared  their 
unwillingness  to  have  the  matter  determined  in  this  way,  at  length 
carried  their  point,  and  were  organized  into  a  church  in  the  year 
already  mentioned,  and  received  into  connection  with  the  old 
Presbytery  of  New  York.  See  ''Records  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,"  pages  102,  108   and  143. 


15 

Rev.  Messrs.  Johnes,  Richards,  Fisher,  Barnes, 
Kirtland,  and  others,  have  been  pastors,  and  which 
has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  most  able  and  important 
churches  in  our  land. 

About  seven  years  after  the  formation  of  the 
church  in  Morristown,  those  who  resided  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  old  Whippany  congrega- 
tion, finding  it  inconvenient  to  attend  church  at  so 
great  a  distance,  and  being  dissatisfied  with  the 
project,  which  was  then  in  agitation,  of  erecting  a 
new  meeting-house  in  Hanover  Neck,  in  place  of 
the  old  one  at  Whippany,  drew  off  from  the  parent 
society,  and  organized  the  church  and  congrega- 
tion with  which  we  are  now  connected.  This  was 
in  or  about  the  year  1747  ;  and  it  appears  to  have 
been  done  in  opposition  to  the  judgment  and  ad- 
vice of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  with  which 
the  Whippany  society  was  at  that  time  connected. 
The  Rev.  Jacob  Green  was  then  the  pastor  of  the 
parent  church,  having  been  settled  there  in  that 
capacity  about  one  year  previously.  This  district 
of  country  was  at  that  time  a  part  of  the  town- 
ship of  Hanover  ;  and  for  this  reason  the  new 
church  in  this  place  very  properly  assumed  the 
name  of  "  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  South  Han- 


16  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

over,"#  which  it  retained  for  about  seventy  years. 
The  congregation,  at  the  commencement,  was 
necessarily  very  feeble,  the  number  of  church 
members  was  small,  and  there  were  but  few  in 
this  entire  vicinity  who  were  able  to  contribute 
much  to  the  maintenance  of  Christian  ordinances. 
For  a  year  or  two,  the  congregation  worshipped  in 
barns  and  private  houses  ;  and  sometimes,  when 
the  weather  would  admit  of  it,  in  the  open  air ; 
until,  sometime  in  the  year  1748, f  the  project  was 
proposed  of  erecting  a  house  of  worship.  After  a 
great  deal  of  consultation,  and  much  persevering 
and  self-sacrificing  effort  on  the  part  of  the  peo- 
ple residing  in  this  vicinity,   a  subscription  was 

*  In  the  old  records  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  Hanover,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Green  speaks  of  the  formation  of  this  church  in  the  fol- 
lowing words.  After  stating  that  his  settlement  at  Whippany 
occurred  in  November,  174G,  he  adds  :  "  The  meeting-house  on  the 
Whippany  river  was  old  and  small ;  and  there  were,  about  that 
time,  proposals  made  for  building  a  new  one.  But  some  families 
in  the  south  end  of  the  town  and  neighboring  parts,  thinking  they 
should  not  be  suited  with  the  position  of  the  meeting-house  in 
Hanover  Neck,  went  off,  contrary  to  the  endeavors  of  the  Presby- 
tery, and  erected  a  new  meeting-house  in  the  south  end  of  the 
town,  which  has  been  called  South  Hanover" 

A  similar  statement,  in  the  hand-writing  of  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Coudit,  Mr.  Green's  successor,  is  also  in  the  old  records  of  the 
church  at  Hanover. 

f  See  Historical  Collections  of  New  J    se  ,  p  377. 


17 

started  ;  and  some  time  in  the  course  of  the  year 
1749,  nearly  two  years  after  the  organization  of 
the  society,  the  church  edifice  was  commenced. 
The  work  advanced,  however,  but  slowly  ;  and  at 
one  time,  on  account  of  the  want  of  means  to  pro- 
ceed, it  was  actually  arrested,  until,  by  the  prompt 
and  decided  action  of  one  of  the  original  settlers  * 
of  this  place,  who  said  that  "  if  the  congregation 
would  not  complete  the  work,  he  would  do  it  him- 
self," it  was  resumed,  and  the  building  was  at 
length  inclosed.  It  was  then  seated  in  a  very 
rude  manner,  with  boards  or  slabs,  and  with  a 
plain  pulpit ;  and  in  this  condition  it  appears  to 
have  been  occupied  for  a  period  of  about  fifteen 
years,  when  the  congregation  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  "  superintend  the  finishing  of  the  meet- 
ing-house ;"  and  gave  certain  individuals,  who  are 
named,  permission  to  construct  pews  for  their  own 
accommodation  in  different  parts  of  the  church, 
next  to  the  walls,  both  below  and  in  the  gallery. 
This,  accordingly,  was  effected  during  the  year 
following ;  and  the  church,  consequently,  may  be 
regarded  as  having  been  completed  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1765. 

*  Mr.  Luke  Carter,  grandfather  of  Mr.  Ashbel  Carter. 


18 

The  site  selected  for  the  meeting-house,  was 
the  crown  of  the  hill,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
burying-ground,  within  about  a  hundred  yards  of 
the  deep  cut  through  which  the  Morris  and  Essex 
Railroad  now  passes.  The  main  road  through 
the  village  at  that  time  passed  over  the  hill,  upon 
which  the  church  was  built,  and  immediately  in 
front  of  it,  instead  of  through  it,  as  it  does  now. 


^S^^'^slL— 


-.:' 


THE     OLD 


The  church,  located  on  this  beautiful  eminence, 
and,  after  so  many  years,  at  length  completed  as 
above  described,  was  a  much  smaller  and  plainer 


19 

edifice  than  the  one  in  which  we  now  worship. 
Its  dimensions  were  forty-eight  feet  by  fifty,  and 
when  it  was  regularly  seated,  it  was  capable  of 
accommodating  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons. It  was  an  unpretending  and  almost  square 
wooden  structure  ;  covered  on  all  sides  with  shin- 
gles, and  without  spire  or  cupola.  It  had  a  gal- 
lery, extending  around  on  three  sides,  and  was 
finished  with  large  and  very  high  square  pews 
next  to  the  walls,  entirely  around  the  house,  both 
above  and  below,  the  body  of  the  house  being 
occupied  with  single  slips,  which  were  construct- 
ed with  very  high  and  perpendicular  backs.  The 
lower  part  of  the  house  was  divided  by  three 
aisles,  which  ran  north  and  south ;  and  a  very 
plain,  and  rather  high  and  small  five-sided  pulpit, 
resting  on  a  single  pillar,  and  surmounted  by  a 
somewhat  elaborately  fashioned  sounding-board, 
stood  in  the  northeast  end  of  the  building.  Un- 
der the  pulpit  was  a  large,  square  pew,  called  the 
"  deacons'  pew,"  in  which  the  deacons  of  the 
church,  as  well  as  the  choristers,  were  accus- 
tomed to  sit.  A  single  front  door  communicated 
with  the  street,  and  another,  on  the  southeastern 
side,  communicated  with  the  burying-ground.     A 


20  PRESBYTERIA.N   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

staircase  went  up  into  the  gallery  on  either  side 
of  the  main  entrance  ;  over  which  and  nearly  up 
to  the  ceiling  were  two  very  large  square  pews, 
which,  to  persons  below,  had  the  appearance  of  a 
second  gallery,  and  which,  to  many  who  are  still 
living,  are  somewhat  memorable,  not  only  for  the 
names  by  which  they  were  designated,  but  also 
for  the  misdeeds  of  which  they  were  sometimes 
witnesses.  A  large,  open,  and  level  green  plat 
lay  in  front  of  the  house,  on  which  stood  a  ma- 
jestic wild  cherry-tree,  and  a  number  of  gigantic 
white  oaks,  which  had  been  saved  when  the  adja- 
cent grounds  were  wrested  from  the  dominion  of 
the  primeval  forest.  In  the  rear  of  the  house, 
and  on  either  side  of  it,  were  the  unpretending 
freestone  monuments — then  comparatively  few  in 
number — of  those  who  had  already  been  "  gath- 
ered to  their  fathers." 

Such  was  the  sanctuary  which  our  fathers  first 
erected  for  the  worship  of  G-od  on  this  "  beautiful 
hill  of  Zion;"  and  thither  did  they  continue  to 
repair  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  for  nearly  seventy 
years,  before  any  other  place  of  worship  was  erect- 
ed within  the  limits  of  this  township ;  the  entire 


MADISON.  21 

church-going  portion  of  our  population  assembling 
there  to  record  their  vows  before  Grod. 

For  nearly  three  years  after  the  organization 
of  the  church,  the  congregation  were  unable  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  labors  of  a  stated  pastor ; 
and  were  obliged  to  look  to  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York  and  to  other  sources  for  occasional  supplies. 
Young  men  just  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel, 
ministers  without  charge,  and  sometimes  the  pas- 
tors of  neighboring  churches,  would  spend  a  Sab- 
bath with  them,  and  break  unto  them  the  bread 
of  life  ;  but  they  were  obliged,  not  unfrequently, 
during  this  early  period  of  their  history,  to  con- 
duct divine  worship  themselves,  without  the  assist- 
ance of  a  minister  ;  the  officers  and  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  church  alternating,  in  reading  a  ser- 
mon, and  in  exhortation  and  prayer. 

Early  in  the  year  1750,  the  congregation  hav- 
ing heard  the  Rev.  NehemiAh  G-reenman*,  a 
young  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  L.  L, 

*  In  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  for  April  6,  1750, 
there  is  the  following  minute  : — "  Rev.  Nehemiah  Greenman  was 
dismissed  to  accept  a  call  to  the  new  society  in  South  Hanover, 
N.  J."  For  this,  and  for  the  fact  of  Mr.  Greenman's  settlement 
here,  the  author  is  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster,  of 
Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 


22  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON 


they  invited  him  to  preach  for  them  as  a  stated 
supply.  Mr.  Greenman  was  a  native  of  Long 
Island ;  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Suffolk 
Presbytery,  October,  3,  1748  ;  and  was  ordained 
while  here,  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  He 
continued  to  labor  in  this  congregation,  in  the 
capacity  already  stated,  for  nearly  two  years, 
when  he  withdrew  to  engage  in  the  same  labors 
elsewhere.  From  the  "  Records  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,"  pages  248  and  260,  we  discover  that 
during  the  year  1753  and  1754,  he  preached  in 
several  instances  by  appointment  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York,  for  the  church  in  Hanover,  Virginia ; 
and  he  is  known  to  have  been  subsequently  the 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Pilesgrove — 
now  Pittsgrove — in  this  State,  and  to  have  lived  to 
a  good  old  age. 

The  first  regular  pastor  of  this  church  was  the 
Rev.  Azariah  Horton.  He  was  a  native  of 
Southold,  Long  Island  ;  and  he  graduated  at  Yale 
College,  New  Haven,  in  the  year  1735.  In  the 
year  1741,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel, 
and  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  as  a 
missionary  among  the  Indians.  In  this  capacity  he 
labored  for  a  number  of  years,  until  the  year  1750, 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  23 

when  he  was  invited  to  supply  a  Church  on  Long 
Island,  and  became  connected  with  the  Presbytery 
of  Suffolk.     There  he  continued  for  about  a  year, 
when  he  was  called  to  become  the  pastor  of  the 
Church  in  this  place.     From  the  records  of  the  old 
Synod   of  New  York,   and,  subsequently,   of   the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  it  appears 
that  he  was  generally  present  at  the  annual  meet- 
ings of  those  bodies,  and  that  he  was  a  prominent 
and  active  member  of  them   up  to  the  very  year 
of  his  death.     He  was  a  member  of  the  old  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  when  the  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
which  was  formerly  connected   with  that  body, 
protested  against  the  act  of  the  Synod  in  exscinding 
the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  ;  he  was  one  of 
the  ten  ministers  whose  names  appear  on  that  pro- 
test ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
active   of   those   who    afterwards    organized    the 
Synod   of  New  York.     He  was.  for   many  years, 
also,    a    member   of   the    "  Commission    of  the 
Synod,"    as    it   was    called  —  a  committee    ap- 
pointed from  year  to  year,  to  attend  to  the  Synod's 
business  during  the  intervals  between  its  regular 
annual  meetings  ;  and  he  did  much  towards  the 
founding  of  the  "  College  of  New  Jersey,"  which, 


24 

it  will  be  remembered,  occurred  in  the  year  1746, 

about  a  year  previous  to  the  organization   of  this 

church. 

Mr.  Horton  was  installed  as  the  pastor  of  this 

church  in  the  year  1751  ;   and  after   laboring  in 

this  relation  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  he 

was  dismissed,  at  his  own  request,  in  the  month 

» 
of  November,  1776.     About  five  months  after  his 

dismission,  he  was  seized  with  that  terrible 
scourge,  the  small-pox,  and  on  the  27th  of  March, 
1777,  he  died,  at  the  house  of  his  son,  Foster 
Horton,  who  was  then  residing  and  keeping  a 
store  in  Chatham  village.  The  death  of  Mr. 
Horton  occurred  one  year  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolutionary  War ;  and  he  was 
buried  in  our  beautiful  cemetery  ;  his  grave,  which 
is  covered  with  a  freestone  slab,  standing  on  col- 
umns of  the  same  material,  being  immediately  in 
the  rear  of  the  old  pulpit,  in  which  he  had  so  often 
officiated  as  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.* 

While  he  was  the  pastor  of  this  church,  his  sal- 

*  On  Mr.  Horton's  monument,  which  is  standing  in  the  cemetery 
in  Madison,  is  the  following  inscription  : — "  In  memory  of  the  Rev. 
Azariah  Horton,  for  25  years  pastor  of  this  church.  Died,  March 
27,  1777,  aged  62  years."  This  would  make  his  settlement  here  in 
the  early  part  of  1752,  or  the  latter  part  of  1751. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  25 

ary  being  small — never  amounting  to  more  than 
seventy  pounds,  or  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
dollars,  per  annum, — his  wife,  Mrs.  Eunice  Hor- 
ton,  in  order  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  in  the 
means  for  their  support,*  opened  a  store  on  the  cor- 
ner since  occupied  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Birdsall,  and 
without  encumbering  him  in  the  least  desrree  with 
its  management,  she  is  said,  not  only  to  have 
made  out  a  handsome  support  for  the  family,  but 
also  to  have  accumulated  enough  to  enable  her  to 
make  the  purchase  of  a  valuable  farm.  She  was 
a  very  energetic  and  well-educated  woman  ;  and 
in  every  respect  a  worthy  "helpmeet"  of  the 
pioneer  minister  of  this  place.!     About  a  year  and 

*  The  building  in  which  this  store  was  kept,  was  afterwards 
converted  into  a  school-house  ;  and  for  this  purpose  it  was  used 
for  several  years. 

f  The  writer  is  indebted  for  many  of  the  facts  recorded 
here,  in  relation  to  the  early  history  of  this  place,  to  Mr.  Azariah 
Carter, *who  was  born  in  the  year  1767,  and  who  is  still  living  in 
this  vicinity,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  He  was 
named  from  the  first  pastor  of  this  church,  and  remembers  him 
well,  having  been  about  ten  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  is  also  indebted  to  Deacon  Ichabod  Bruen,  Mrs.  Mary  Richards, 
Captain  Luke  Carter,  and  Mrs.  Susan  Vanderbilt,  who  are  still 
living  in  this  place ;  and  all  of  whom  are  over  eighty  years  of 
age.  He  is  under  obligations,  moreover,  to  Messrs.  William  and 
Abraham  Brittin,  Dr.  H.  P.  Green,  Mrs.  Rachel  Sayre,  Ashbel 
Carter,  and  others. 
9 


26  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

a  half  after  her  husband's  death,  she  also  died, 
while  an  inmate  of  her  son's  family  in  Chatham, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years,  and  she  was  buried  in 
our  cemetery,  her  name  and  that  of  her  husband 
being  inscribed  on  the  same  monument. 

Mr.  Horton  had  two  sons.  One  of  these  was 
killed  while  serving  his  country  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  The  other,  Mr.  Foster  Horton,  lived,  as 
before  stated,  in  .Chatham  village,  and  was  for 
several  years  afterwards  a  prominent  and  effi- 
cient member  of  this  parish.  He  left,  also,  several 
daughters.  One  of  these.  Charlotte,  married  Mr. 
Lewis  Woodruff,  of  Elizabethtown  ;  and  another, 
Mary,  married  Mr.  Jacob  Morrell,  a  resident  in 
this  place  ;  and  here,  about  three  years  after  her 
father's  decease,  she  died,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one.  Her  name,  also,  may  be  found  on  her  father's 
monument. 

In  the  year  1765,  about  eleven  years  after  Mr. 
Horton's  settlement  here,  the  congregation  pur- 
chased a  piece  of  property  for  a  parsonage,  and 
put  it  in  a  state  of  repair  for  their  minister.  This 
property  was  the  one  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
Dr.  H.  P.  Cfreen,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Morris  and 
Essex    Railroad   depot.     It   contained    originally 


27 

about  fifty  acres  of  land,  with  a  house  and  barn, 
which  stood  on  the  same  site  which  is  now  occu- 
pied by  Dr.  Green's  improvements.  The  house  was 
a  large  double  one,  shingled  on  all  sides,  with  the 
front  eaves  high,  while  the  back  ones  were  so  low 
that  they  could  easily  be  reached  from  the  ground. 
Here  did  Mr.  Horton,  the  first  pastor,  reside  for 
nearly  fourteen  years,  until  his  dismission,  about 
five  months  before  his  death  ;  and  here  did  the 
succeeding  pastors  of  the  church  continue  to  re- 
side until  the  year  1810 ;  when  the  congregation 
sold  the  property,  for  reasons  which  will  hereafter 
be  stated  ;  having  been  in  possession  of  it  for  a 
period  of  nearly  fifty  years. 

After  Mr.  Horton's  death,  which  occurred,  as 
has  been  stated,  just  after  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolutionary  "War,  the  congregation  engaged, 
for  a  short  time,  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Richards.  Mr.  Richards  was  likewise  a  gradu- 
ate of  Yale  College  ;  he  was  licensed  and  ordained 
by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  was  for  many 
years  associated  with  his  predecessor  here,  as  a  co- 
presbyter  in  that  body.  At  the  time  of  his 
preaching  in  this  place,  he  was  the  regular  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  church   at  Rahway,  in  this 


28  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 


State  ;  but  on  account  of  the  dangers  incident  to 
a  residence  on  the  great  thoroughfare  between 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  during  the  war,  he 
deemed  it  prudent  to  bring  his  family  here  for 
a  time  ;  and  upon  his  arrival  in  this  place  the 
congregation  decided  to  invite  him  to  supply  the 
pulpit  until  the  way  should  be  prepared  for  him 
to  return  to  his  own  charge.  In  this  capacity  he 
served  the  society — residing  in  the  old  parsonage 
— for  about  one  and  a  half  years,  until  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1779,  when  he  withdrew  to  labor 
again  among  his  own  people. 

During  the  winter  of  1776-77,  and  the  winter 
of  1779-80,  it  will  be  remembered,  that  the 
American  army  established  their  winter  quarters 
in  the  vicinity  of  this  place  and  Morristown. 
Gen.  Washington  had  his  head-quarters  in  the  lat- 
ter place,  in  a  dwelling  which  is  still  standing, 
and  which  is  owned  and  occupied  by  Henry  A. 
Ford,  Esq. ;  while  a  number  of  the  leading  officers 
of  the  army  had  quarters  assigned  them  in  this 
village.  Col.  Francis  Barbour  resided  in  a  small 
house,  which  was  standing,  at  that  time,  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  John  B. 
Miller  ;  and  for  one  year  he  rented  and  occupied 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  29 

the  old  parsonage.  Col.  Matthias  Ogden  was 
quartered  with  Major  Luke  Miller  ;  and  while 
there,  he  rented  a  piece  of  property  belonging  to 
the  congregation,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  residence 
of  Deacon  Jonathan  Thompson,  but  now  the  home- 
stead of  Mr.  Lathrop.  Major  Eaton  took  up  his 
abode  with  Mr.  Jonathan  Harris,  in  a  dwelling 
which  is  still  standing,  next  to  the  residence  of 
the  late  Deacon  Ephraim  Sayre ;  and  Col.  Marsh 
resided  in  an  old  house,  which  was  at  that  time 
standing  on  the  spot  which  has  since  been  occu- 
pied by  the  dwelling  of  Mrs.  Eliza  Cook.  A  part 
of  the  army  were  at  the  same  time  encamped  on 
the  property  formerly  owned  by  Mr.  Yincent  Bois- 
aubin,  but  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Mr.  A.  M. 
Treadwell ;  and  while  they  were  thus  situated,  it 
was  very  common  for  both  officers  and  privates  to 
attend  divine  worship  in  our  old  sanctuary.  There 
are  those  still  living  among  us  who  remember 
seeing  companies  of  soldiers  in  uniform,  accom- 
panied by  their  officers,  entering  that  venerable 
edifice,  and,  taking  their  places  in  the  southeast 
gallery,  unite  with  our  fathers  in  rendering  adora- 
tion and  thanksgiving  to  the  Most  High.  The 
Rev.  James   Caldwell,  the  honored  pastor  of  the 


30  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.    MADISON. 

First  Presbyterian  church,  in  Eiizabethtown,  who 
was  afterwards  most  brutally  assassinated  by  the 
enemy,  was  acting  as  chaplain  in  the  army,  while 
they  were  quartered  in  this  vicinity  ;  and  he  is 
known  to  have  preached  repeatedly  in  this  place, 
both  in  the  church  and  in  the  house*  of  his  warm 
and  intimate  friend,  Deacon  Ephraim  Say  re ; 
where  he  was  a  frequent  and  a  most  welcome 
visitor. 

During  the  same  spring  in  which  Mr.  Richards 
left — the  Revolution  then  being  at  its  height — 
the  church  and  congregation  united  in  a  call  to  the 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Bradford.  This  gentleman  was  a 
native  of  Canterbury,  Ct. ;  he  graduated  at  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  in  1773  ;  and  he  was  licensed 
and  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  in 
the  year  1775.  On  the  13th  of  June  of  the  same 
year,  he  received  ordination,  and  for  three  or  four 
years,  subsequently,  preached  in  the  churches  of 
Chester  and  Succasunna  ;  until  the  early  part  of 
the  year  1779,  when  he  was  invited  to  become  the 
pastor  of  this  church  ;  and  while  he  was  here  offici- 

*  That  house  is  still  occupied  by  Mrs.  Richards  aud  Miss  Rachel 
Sayre,  daughters  of  Deacou  Ephraim  Sayre,  to  whom  the  writer 
is  indebted  for  important  facts  contained  in  this  history. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  31 

ating  in  that  capacity,  he  married  a  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Jacob  Grreen,  of  Hanover.  During  his 
residence  in  this  place,  he  occupied  the  old  par- 
sonage, and  taught,  at  the  same  time,  a  very 
flourishing  and  somewhat  famous  classical  acade- 
my,* which  stood  on  the  very  spot  now  occupied 
by  our  village  depot.  Most  of  the  pupils  in  this 
institution  were  from  other  parts  of  the  country  ; 
and  a  considerable  number  pursued  their  studies 
here,  preparatory  to  their  entering  college,  who 
afterwards  distinguished  themselves  in  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  or  in  the  other  learned  professions. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Grreen  was  one  of  the  teach- 
ers in  this  institution. 

Mr.  Bradford  continued  to  perform  the  double 
duty  of  pastor  and  teacher  in  this  place  for  a 
period  of  about  three  years,  when  he  resigned  his 
charge,  and  retired  in  the  year  1782.  While  he 
was  the  pastor  of  this  church  he,  with  Rev.  Jacob 
Green,  of  Hanover,  Rev.  Amzi  Lewis,  of  Warwick, 


*  That  edifice  was  afterwards  removed  to  Chatham  village, 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  where  it  was  occupied  for  a  consid- 
erable time  by  Mr.  Shepard  Kollock,the  proprietor  and  editor  of  a 
paper  published  in  Elizabethtown,  for  the  issuing  of  that  paper ;  it 
being  considered  hazardous,  as  things  then  were,  to  perform  the 
work  in  the  village,  where  it  properly  belonged. 


32  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

N.  Y.,  Rev.  Joseph  Grover,  of  Parsippany,  and  a 
few  others,  withdrew  from  the  old  Presbytery  of 
New  York  with  which  this  church  was  at  that 
time  connected,  and  formed  what  was  called  the 
"  Presbytery  of  Morris  County."*  This  ecclesias- 
tical body  originated  in  a  predilection  entertained 
by  the  gentlemen  above  named,  for  the  Congrega- 
tional method  of  church  government;  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  Mr.  Bradford's  tendency  in  that 
direction  was  a  leading  cause  of  his  short  con- 
tinuance here  as  the  pastor  of  this  church. 

Upon  leaving  here  he  went,  in  1781,  to  Bethel, 
in  the  town  of  Danbury,  Connecticut,  where  he 
labored  for  a  few  years,  and  then  removed  to 
Rowley,  Massachusetts,   where   he    continued   to 

*  "  The  Presbytery  of  Morris  County"  appears  to  have  been 
formed  in  or  about  the  year  1780.  In  the  minutes  of  the  Synod 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  for  May,  1781,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Jacob  Green,  Joseph  Grover,  Amzi  Lewis,  and  Ebenezer  Bradford, 
the  originators  of  that  body,  are  reported  to  have  withdrawn  from 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York  during  the  year  preceding.  The 
movement  never  seems  to  have  met  with  much  favor  at  any 
period  of  its  history  ;  and  for  many  years  the  Presbytery  has  been 
entirely  disbanded.  The  Morris  County  Education  Society,  which 
was  formerly  connected  with  that  body,  is  still  in  existence,  hav- 
ing its  centre  in  Bloomfield,  in  Essex  County,  where  it  is  furnish- 
ing means  for  the  education  of  four  or  five  young  men  per 
annum,  for  the  Gospel  ministry.  The  writer  has  been,  for  several 
years,  one  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  that  Society. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  33 

preach  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the 
year  1801. 

He  was  a  very  able  preacher  ;  and  it  is  said  that 
under  one  of  his  sermons  on  1  Tim.  2 : 5,  his 
brother-in-law,  the  late  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, was  converted  to  Grod.  Mr.  Bradford 
left  four  sons,  all  of  whom  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  their  various  professions  ;  Dr.  John 
M.  Bradford,  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  Al- 
bany ;  Rev.  James  Bradford,  of  Sheffield,  Massa- 
chusetts ;  Hon.  E.  Gr.  Bradford,  President  Judge 
of  York  and  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania  ;  and  Moses 
Bradford,  Esq.,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

In  the  month  of  June  of  the  following  year — the 
war  yet  being  in  progress — the  Rev.  Alexander 
Miller  was  invited  to  become  the  pastor  of  this 
church.  This  gentleman  was  a  native  of  Scot- 
land ;  he  graduated  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
in  the  year  1764  ;  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York  in  1768  ;  was  ordained  by  the  same 
body,  as  an  evangelist,  on  the  5th  day  of  June, 
1770,  and  labored  in  this  capacity  for  about  two 
years  in  the  village  of  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  He 
was  installed  as  the  pastor  of  this  Church  on  the 
2d  day  of  July,  1783,  and  after  having  labored  in 
2 


34 

this  connection  for  a  period  of  about  four  years,  he 
was  dismissed  on  the  19th  of  June,  1787.  From 
the  year  1785  to  the  year  1795  he  officiated  as  a 
Trustee  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  After  re- 
signing his  pastorate  here,  he  removed  to  Hacken- 
sack,  in  this  State,  where  he  took  the  charge  of  an 
academy,  and  remained  until  the  year  1796,  when 
he  removed  to  the  county  of  Columbia,  N.  Y.,  and 
took  the  charge  of  a  classical  institution  there. 
In  this  position  he  remained  from  the  year  1809 
to  the  year  1819,  a  period  of  about  ten  years  ;  and 
while  residing  in  that  section  of  the  country,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany.* 

For  nearly  three  years  after  this,  the  church 
seems  to  have  been  destitute  of  the  services  of  a 
stated  pastor,  and  were  obliged  to  look  to  the 
"  Presbytery  of  New  York,"  with  which  they  were 
connected,  for  occasional  supplies.  The  Presby- 
tery at  that  time  was  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing ministers,  to  wit  :  Rev.  Drs.  John  Rogers, 
Timothy  Jones,  Hugh  Knox,  and  Alexander 
McWhorter,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Jedediah  Chapman, 

*  The  author  is  indebted  for  several  of  the  facts  here  stated,  re- 
specting Messrs.  Bradford  and  Miller,  to  the  kindness  of  the  Rev. 
Richard  Webster,  of  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  35 

John  McDonald,  Aaron  Richards,  Jonathan  Elmer, 
Abner  Brush,  Benjamin  Woodruff,  Azel  Roe, 
Nathan  Kerr,  John  Close,  Alexander  Miller,  Wil- 
liam Woodhull,  Jacob  Yan  Arsdalen,  William 
Schenck,  John  War  ford,  John  Joline,  Andrew- 
King,  and  James  Grlassbrook  ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  a  considerable  number  of  these  gentlemen,  if 
not  all  of  them,  took  their  turns  in  supplying  the 
pulpit  here  while  it  was  vacant.  The  ordinances 
of  the  sanctuary,  however,  were  regularly  main- 
tained, and  the  church  began  to  recover  gradually 
from  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  war.  The 
period  of  which  we  are  now  speaking  is  memor- 
able for  one  thing  which  will  never  cease  to  excite 
the  regrets  of  this  community  ;  and  that  is,  the 
utter  loss  of  all  the  records  of  the  Session  of  this 
church,  from  the  year  1790  back  to  the  time  of  its 
organization — a  period  of  nearly  fifty-five  years. 
All  the  transactions  of  that  body  during  that 
time,  together  with  the  names  of  nearly  all  the 
members  of  the  church  previous  to  the  year  just 
mentioned,  are  irrecoverably  gone  ;  and  what  is  a 
little  remarkable,  on  the  minutes  of  the  parish 
itself  there  is  no  record  of  any  of  its  proceedings 
from  the   11th  of  October,  1786,  to  the  29th  of 


36  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

September,  1789  ;  a  deficiency  which  not  only- 
can  never  be  explained,  but  which  can  by  no 
means  ever  be  supplied. 

In  the  early  periods  of  the  church's  history,  it 
may  be  interesting  to  know  that  there  were  no 
choirs  appointed  to  conduct  the  singing  of  the 
sanctuary  ;  but  that  this  part  of  divine  service 
was  attended  to  by  the  whole  congregation  ;  one 
or  more  individuals  being  appointed  annually  at 
the  parish  meeting,  to  "  pitch  the  tune,"  as  it 
was  termed,  and  lead  them  in  this  exercise.  The 
leader's  place  was  in  the  deacons'  pew,  immediately 
under  the  pulpit.  When  the  psalm  or  hymn  had 
been  given  out,  the  leader  arose  in  the  presence  of 
the  whole  assembly,  and  started  the  tune,  the 
congregation  falling  in  with  him  in  one  general 
chorus.  This  practice  was  kept  up  in  the  church, 
it  is  believed,  until  about  the  year  1&00,  when 
that  of  singing  in  connection  with  a  choir,  was 
introduced. 

In  reference  to  the  versions  of  psalms  and 
hymns  which  have  been  used  here  at  different 
periods  in  the  church's  history,  it  may  be  well  to 
state  that  for  eight  or  nine  years  after  the  society 
was  formed,  as  a  means  of  uniting  those  whose 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  37 

views  differed  on  this  subject,  the  congregation 
used  the  old  Scotch  version  by  Rouse,  as  well  as 
that  which  was  prepared  by  Dr.  Watts.  At  that 
time  the  churches  generally  through  the  country 
were  very  much  divided  in  reference  to  this 
matter  ;  and  in  many  instances  it  Was  deemed  of 
sufficient  importance  to  call  for  the  counsel  and 
ultimate  adjudication  of  the  Presbyteries  and 
higher  bodies  of  the  church.*  At  times,  it  greatly 
disturbed  the  peace  of  this  congregation,  until 
Watts'  version  was  adopted  by  common  consent, 
as  already  stated.  This  continued  to  be  used  in 
the  church  until  the  year  1804,  when  the  version 
by  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  President  of  Yale 
College,  was  introduced.  This  last  continued  in 
use  here  until  the  year  1814,  when  the  congrega- 

*  In  1763,  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  decided  one 
of  these  references  in  the  following  manner  :  "  Inasmueh  as  Dr. 
Watts'  imitation  of  David's  Psalms  was  approved  by  many  mem- 
bers of  the  Synod,  although  it  has  not  been  particularly  examined 
by  all,  the  Synod  have  no  objection  to  its  use  until  the  matter  of 
Psalmody  be  further  considered  ;"  and  in  1765,  they  decided 
' '  that  they  look  upon  the  inspired  psalms  in  Scripture  to  be  pro- 
per matter  to  be  sung  in  divine  worship,  according  to  their  original 
design,  and  the  practice  of  the  churches  ;  yet  they  will  not  forbid 
those  to  use  the  imitation  of  them,  whose  judgment  and  inclina- 
tion lead  them  to  do  so." — History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
pp.  407,  408. 


38  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISOX. 

tion  once  more  agreed  to  adopt  the  old  version  by 
Dr.  "Watts  ;  which,  in  turn,  was  used  by  the  con- 
gregation until  the  year  1833,  when  the  "  Chris- 
tian Psalmist,"  which  we  are  now  using,  took  its 
place. 

As  a  matter  properly  belonging  to  the  annals 
of  the  church,  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  that  in 
providing  for  the  support  of  their  pastors,  the 
congregation  for  many  years,  stipulated,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  regular  salary,  to  furnish  them  with 
all  their  necessary  fuel.  In  order  to  provide  this, 
it  was  the  practice  of  the  parish  to  purchase  wood 
lots,  and  to  appoint  one  or  more  days  in  each 
year  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  and  drawing  the 
minister's  wood.  On  such  occasions,  the  great 
body  of  the  congregation  turned  out  with  their  axes 
and  their  teams  ;  a  generous  supper  was  provided 
by  the  ladies  of  the  parish  at  the  parsonage  ;  and 
the  year's  supply  of  fuel  was  in  this  way  piled  up 
in  the  minister's  yard.  It  may  serve  to  show  us 
the  difference  between  the  past  and  the  present  in 
a  single  item,  to  state  a  well-authenticated  fact, 
that  during  the  pastorate  of  one  who  was  here  at 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  at  one  of  these 
annual   "  frolics,"    ninety  loads,  or  not  far  from 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  39 

seventy  cords  of  wood,  were  deposited  in  the  par- 
sonage yard  ;  and  that  before  the  expiration  of 
the  year  the  whole  of  it  was  consumed.  This 
practice  of  wood-getting  was  followed  by  the  con- 
gregation until  about  the  year  1840,  when  it  was 
abandoned ;  having  been  in  vogue  in  this  parish 
for  a  period  of  nearly  ninety  years. 

On  the  29th  of  September,  1789,  the  congrega- 
tion extended  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Asa  Hillyer,  to 
become  their  pastor ;  and  in  the  early  part  of  the 
following  year  he  was  installed  here  to  serve  in 
that  capacity,  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York ;  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Austin,  of  Elizabethtown,  preaching  the 
installation  sermon.  The  following  gentlemen  at 
that  time  constituted  the  Session  of  this  church, 
to  wit:  Joseph  Wood,  Ephraim  Sayre,  Moses 
Allen,  Jonathan  Nicholas,  Jacob  Bonnel,  Paul 
Day,  Jonathan  Thompson,  Stephen  Day,  and  Enos 
Ward.  Mr.  Hillyer  was  a  native  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  he  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  the  year 
1786 — three  years  previous  to  his  being  called  to 
this  place  ;  and  he  was  licensed  and  ordained  by 
the  old  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  Long  Island,  in  the 
spring  of  1788.     When  he  came  here,  he  was  yet 


40 

a  young  man,  and  this  was  his  first  place  of 
settlement.  While  he  was  the  pastor  of  this 
church,  his  labors  were  very  greatly  blessed  ;  the 
number  of  church  members  was  increased,  and 
the  congregation  came  to  assume  a  high  rank 
among  the  congregations  of  that  day.  This 
amiable  and  worthy  divine  occupied  the  pulpit 
here  for  a  period  of  about  twelve  years  ;  when,  in 
the  summer  of  1801,  he  was  dismissed  to  become 
the  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Orange,  in  this  State ;  where  he  continued  to 
labor  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  year 
1840.  The  minute  which  the  congregation  have 
placed  upon  their  records  in  reference  to  Mr. 
Hillyer's  dismission,  does  honor  both  to  themselves 
and  to  him  ;  and  furnishes  a  beautiful  exempli- 
fication of  the  spirit  which  ought  to  be  exhibited 
both  by  pastors  and  people,  when  in  the  prov- 
idence of  G-od  they  are  called  to  separate.  Mr. 
Hillyer  was  elected  a  trustee  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  in  the  year  1811  ;  and  this  respon- 
sible and  honorable  office  he  continued  to  hold 
until  the  time  of  his  death — a  period  of  nearly 
thirty  years. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON.  41 

The  pastorate  of  Dr.  Hillyer*  is  ever  to  be  re- 
membered by  this  people  as  the  period  when  the 
Tuesday  evening  prayer -meeting;  was  established. 
It  was  commenced  somewhere  about  the  year 
1790,  in  the  house  of  Deacon  Ephraim  Sayre, 
where  it  was  kept  up  for  a  considerable  time ;  after 
which  it  was  removed  to  the  old  school-house,  now 
occupied  by  Chistian  Wise,  on  the  corner  north- 
west of  the  present  academy  ;  and  afterwards,  to 
the  upper  room  of  the  present  academy,  where  it 
was  maintained  for  more  than  forty  years,  until 
the  year  1851,  when,  upon  the  completion  of  the 
lecture-room,  it  was  removed  there.  That  prayer- 
meeting  has  been  kept  up  now  for  nearly  sixty-five 
years,  and  has  proved  an  incalculable  blessing,  in 
every  point  of  view,  to  this  entire  community. 

During  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Hillyer,  also,  and 
for  many  years  subsequently,  it  ought  to  be  known 
that  Union-meetings  were  frequently  held  between 
this  church  and  the  churches  of  Morristown  and 
Hanover.  These  meetings  were  usually  held  at 
private   houses,  either  in   Columbia,   Monroe,  or 

*  He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  in  the  year 
1812. 


42 

Whippany,  on  some  afternoon  in  the  week  ;  they 
were  attended  by  the  pastors  of  all  these  churches, 
who  generally  alternated  in  preaching  ;  and  they 
were  occasions  of  surpassing  interest  to  the  entire 
surrounding  community.  At  these  meetings,  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Jones,  Richards,  and  Fisher,  of 
Morristown ;  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Green  and  Oondit, 
of  Hanover  ;  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Bradford, 
Richards,  Miller,  Hillyer,  Perrine,  and  Bergen,  of 
this  place,  met  in  friendly  concert,  and  strength- 
ened each  others'  hands  by  these  seasons  of  united 
worship.  The  recollection  of  these  scenes,  now 
for  ever  past,  is  full  of  interest  to  many  of  (rod's 
people  who  are  yet  living. 

About  six  months  after  the  dismission  of  Dr. 
Hillyer,  on  the  29th  of  December  1801,  the  con- 
gregation met,  and,  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richards  of 
Morristown  for  their  moderator,  they  united  in  a 
call  to  the  Rev.  Matthew  La  Rue  Perrine,  to  as- 
sume the  pastoral  office  among  them.  This  call 
was  promptly  accepted,  and  he  entered  imme- 
diately upon  his  labors. 

Mr.  Perrine  was  a  native  of  Freehold,  Mon- 
mouth county,  N.  J.,  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most 
sanguinary  battles  of  the   American  Revolution. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON.  43 

While  he  was  yet  quite  young,  he  resided  in  the 
family  of  his  uncle,  Dr.  Condit.  at  Newton,  in  this 
State,  and  while  there  he  began  his  studies  prepar- 
atory to  entering  college,  and  was  hopefully  con- 
verted to  God.  Upon  his  uncle's  removal  to  New 
Brunswick,  he  accompanied  him  thither  ;  finished 
his  preparatory  studies,  and  entered  the  college  of 
New  Jersey,  in  the  year  1794.  After  a  three  years' 
course,  he  graduated  at  that  institution  in  the 
year  1797.  His  theological  studies,  it  is  believed, 
were  pursued  in  private,  under  the  direction  of  his 
pastor,  the  Rev.  John  Woodhull,  D.D.,  of  Freehold; 
and  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  about  the  close  of 
the  last  century.  He  was  a  young  man  when  he 
came  here,  and  this  also  was  his  first  place  of  set- 
tlement. He  was  a  very  ripe  scholar,  a  sound 
theologian,  and  an  able  preacher.  He  was  justly 
distinguished  for  the  soundness  of  his  judgment, 
and  his  eminent  piety  ;  and  he  was  so  characteris- 
tically amiable,  that  he  was  commonly  called, 
where  he  was  known,  "  the  beloved  disciple." 

Under  his  ministry  there  were  large  accessions 
made  to  the  church ;  and  the  congregation  grew 


44  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

to  become  one  of  the  most  respectable  and  able  in 
this  section  of  the  country. 

It  was  during  the  period  of  his  residence  here, 
that  the  turnpike,  which  is  now  the  main  avenue 
through  our  village,  was  built  ;  and  also  that  the 
township  of  Chatham  ivas  set  off  from  the  town- 
ships of  Morris  and  Hanover.  The  first  of  these 
occurred  in  the  year  1804,  and  the  last  in  the 
year  1806.  It  was  while  he  was  here,  also — to  wit, 
in  the  year  1809 — that  our  present  academy  was 
erected.  This  edifice  was  built  by  a  joint-stock 
company,  by  which  it  is  still  owned ;  and  at  differ- 
ent periods  it  has  contained  schools  of  a  very  high 
order. 

In  the  year  1804,  soon  after  his  settlement  here, 
the  entire  village  of  Madison  consisted  of,  not  to 
exceed,  twenty  dwelling-houses ;  and  all  these 
were  standing  on  the  old  road.  One  of  these  stood 
on  the  property  formerly  owned  by  Capt.  Mallaby, 
opposite  the  toll-gate ;  another,  where  Deacon 
Burroughs  now  lives  ;  another,  where  Mrs.  Chloe 
Samson  resides;  and  another,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 
southeast  of  the  church.  Then  came  the  church, 
on  the  crown  of  the  hill,  and  then,  a  small  house  on 
the  property  now  owned  by  Mr.  Henry  Keep ;  then 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  45 

came  the  parsonage,  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Green  ; 
then,  a  small  house  with  a  store  attached,  on  the 
corner,  until  recently  the  residence  of  the  late  Mr. 
Benjamin  Birdsall,  but  then  occupied  by  Mr.  Jon- 
athan Richards  and  Mr.  Abraham  Brittin  ;  then, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  a  small  house, 
where  the  residence  of  Mr.  Charles  Johnson  now 
stands.  Then  came  the  public  house,  now  occu- 
pied by  Mr.  Robert  Albright;  then,  a  small  house 
on  the  side  hill,  late  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Eliza 
Cook  ;  then,  on  the  site  of  the  present  parsonage,  a 
house  belonging  to  Mr.  James  Burnet ;  then,  on 
the  corner  diagonally  opposite,  a  house  belonging 
to  Mr.  Ellis  Cook.  Then  came  the  house  of  Dea- 
con Ephraim  Sayre,  and  next  to  him  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Jonathan  Harris.  Further  on  came  the 
dwelling  of  Mr.  Joseph  Miller,  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  David  L.  Miller  ;  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  where  Mr.  John  B.  Miller  now  resides,  was 
an  old  house  which  was  occupied  by  Deacon  Joseph 
Wood  :  and  a  little  beyond  that  was  the  residence 
of  Major  Luke  Miller.     The  school-house*  stood 

*  The  first  school-house  erected  in  Madison  was  on  the  Birdsall 
corner.  After  that,  one  was  built  on  the  property  afterwards 
occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arms.     That  building  was  moved  to  the 


46 

on  the  corner  now  occupied  by  Christian  Wise  ;  a 
blacksmith-shop  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present 
academy  ;  and  an  old  storehouse  occupied  the  site 
of  our  present  lecture-room.  Such  was  the  village 
of  Madison  soon  after  Mr.  Perrine's  settlement  here, 
about  fifty  years  ago. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  Mr.  Perrine's  min- 
istry in  this  place  was  a  very  successful  one. 
Under  his  supervision,  the  church  grew  very  rap- 
idly, and  large  numbers  were  hopefully  con- 
verted to  Grod.  While  he  was  here,  one  very  ex- 
tensive revival  of  religion  was  enjoyed  in  the  con- 
gregation. It  was  preceded  by  prayer-meetings  of 
a  deeply  solemn  and  interesting  character ;  and 
among  these  the  most  memorable  are  those  which 
were  held  previous  to  the  hour  of  divine  worship, 
on  Sabbath  mornings,  in  the  house  opposite  the 
toll-gate,  formerly  the  property  of  Capt.  Mallaby. 
Subsequently,  6i  a  four  days  meeting,"  as  it  was 
called,  was  appointed  to  be  held  in  the  church. 
On  the  day  fixed  for  the  services  to  begin,  a  great 
concourse  of  people  assembled  in  and  around  the 

corner,  now  occupied  by  Christian  Wise,  and  is  the  building  in 
which  he  now  resides.  From  that,  the  school  was  taken  to  the 
academy  in  1809. 


PKESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  47 

church  from  all  parts  of  the  surrounding  country.* 
The  church  being  found  too  small  to  accommodate 
the  multitude  assembled,  arrangements  were  made 
for  holding  the  services  in  the  valley  immediately 
in  the  rear  of  the  church,  and  nearly  in  front  of 
our  present  house  of  worship.  A  large  farm -wag- 
on was  placed  by  the  brook,  from  which  the  min- 
isters were  to  address  the  people  ;  while  the  mul- 
titude ranged  themselves  on  the  slopes  of  the  hills 
on  either  side,  to  receive  the  gospel  message  from 
their  lips.  The  following  ministers  were  present, 
and  assisted  the  pastor,  Mr.  Perrine,  in  these  ser- 
vices, to  wit:  Rev.  Dr.  Finley,  of  Baskingridge ; 
Rev.  Amzi  Armstrong,  of  Mendham  ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Richards,  of  Morristown ;  Rev.  Dr.  Hillyer,  of 
Orange  ;  Rev.  Barnabas  King,  then  a  young  mis- 
sionary at  Rockaway  ;  Rev.  Aaron  Condit,  of  Han- 
over ;  Rev.  Dr.  M'Whorter,  of  Newark;  Rev.  Henry 
Kollock,  of  Elizabethtown ;  Rev.  Dr.  G-riffin, 
of  Newark,  and  others.  "  There  were  giants  in 
those  days  !"     The  services  were  kept  up  through 


*  The  number  of  horses  and  carriages  in  attendance  was  so 
great,  that,  as  they  were  hitched  to  the  fences  on  both  sides  of  the 
road,  th^y  extended  from  the  old  parsonage  to  the  church,  and  to 
an  equal  distance  beyond  it. 


48  PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    MADISON. 

four  entire  days,  morning  and  afternoon  ;  and  in 
a  few  instances,  there  was  preaching  at  the  same 
hour  both  in  the  valley  and  in  the  church.  The 
ministers  present  took  their  turns  in  conducting 
the  services  ;  and  the  result  was  one  of  the  most 
extensive  revivals  of  religion  that  has  ever  been 
witnessed  in  this  country.  An  eye-witness  of  the 
solemn  scene,  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  speaks  of  it 
in  the  following  language:  "  It  was  in  Madison 
that  I  witnessed  the  largest  religious  concourse 
that  I  ever  witnessed  anywhere.  The  ground 
north  of  the  old  church  was  admirably  fitted  for 
the  occasion.  It  was  a  hollow,  surrounded  by 
rising  grounds  on  all  sides.  In  the  bottom  were 
placed  wagons,  from  which  the  ministers  held 
forth  the  word  of  life  to  the  earnestly  listening 
and  solemn  crowds,  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  The  preaching  was,  for  the  most  part,  in 
the  open  air ;  but  I  remember  that  on  one  after- 
noon as  many  as  could  be  accommodated,  repaired 
to  the  church  to  hear  Dr.  M'Whorter,  of  Newark, 
while  the  balance  remained  in  the  hollow  to  hear 
preaching  there.  The  ministers  of  the  old  Jersey 
Presbytery  were  accustomed,  at  that  time,  to  hold 
monthly  meetings  in  their  respective  parishes,  for 


49 

mutual  improvement  in  matters  pertaining  to 
their  high  calling.  Around  these  meetings  there 
came  by  degrees  to  gather  a  great  deal  of  interest; 
the  people  in  all  that  region  began  to  sympathize 
with  their  ministers,  so  that  when  the  first  week 
in  July,  the  time  fixed  for  the  meeting  at  Madison, 
came,  multitudes  felt  as  if  they  must  be  'there. 
Notice  was  given  of  it  for  several  weeks  previously, 
in  the  neighboring  churches  ;  and  I  remember  that 
Mr.  Armstrong,  our  pastor  at  Mendham,  stated  on 
the  Sabbath  before,  from  his  pulpit,  that  he  in- 
tended to  be  there,  and  that  he  hoped  many  of  his 
people  would  make  their  arrangements  to  go  also. 
I  look  back  to  that  time  with  admiration  and 
wonder,  at  the  manifestations  of  divine  power 
which  were  seen  and  felt  at  that  time  through  all 
that  region.  Many  thousands,  I  believe,  were  con- 
verted to  Grod,  a  large  number  of  whom  have 
already  gone  home  to  glory  ;  and  it  is  interest- 
ing, at  least  to  myself,  to  know  that  my  own  relig- 
ious seriousness  began  about  that  time."* 

As  the  result  of  that  work  of  grace,  a  very  great 
number  of  hopeful  converts  connected  themselves 

*  Rev.  Jacob  Tuttle,  of  Jersey,  Ohio—father  of  the  author. 
3 


50  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 


with  neighboring  churches ;  and  nearly  ninety 
were  received  into  fellowship  with  this  church, 
upon  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ ;  and  the 
cause  of  religion  received  an  impulse  in  this 
whole  surrounding  region,  which  it  is  believed  it 
never  has  lost  until  this  day.  The  time  when 
these  remarkable  services  were  held  was  in  the 
month  of  July,  1806. 

The  number  of  church  members  here  when  Mr. 
Perrine  was  first  settled  over  this  church,  was  not 
far  from  one  hundred.  In  the  year  1808,  that 
number  was  increased  to  but  little  short  of  two 
hundred  ;  and  when  he  resigned  his  charge  here, 
the  number  was  two  hundred  and  nine.  This,  it- 
will  be  remembered,  was  when  this  church  was 
still  the  only  one  within  the  limits  of  this  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Perrine's  pastoral  connection  with  this 
church  and  congregation  continued  about  nine  and 
a  half  years,  until  the  August  of  1811  ;  when  he 
was  dismissed  at  his  own  request,  to  take  charge 
of  the  Spring  Street  Presbyterian  Church  in  New 
York  city.  Previous  to  his  entering  upon  his  la- 
bors in  this  new  sphere,  the  congregation  extend- 
ed to  him  a  very  pressing  invitation  to  return  and 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON.  51 

resume  his  pastorate  in  this  place.  This  second 
call  was  attended  with  many  circumstances  which 
were  honorable  both  to  them  and  to  him ;  but,  not 
seeing  his  way  clear  to  accept,  he  declined  the  in- 
vitation, and  entered  upon  his  ministry  in  New 
York.  In  this  new  position,  he  continued  for  about 
ten  years,  until  the  year  1821,  when  he  was  called 
to  a  professorship  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Auburn,  New  York  ;  where,  after  a  period  of  about 
fifteen  years  of  distinguished  usefulness  in  train- 
ing up  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry,  he  de- 
parted this  life  on  the  11th  of  February,  1836, 
sincerely  beloved  and  lamented  by  all  who  knew 
him.  Mr.  Perrine  never  had  any  children  of  his 
own ;  but  he  adopted  and  educated  some  six  or 
eight  of  his  nephews  and  other  relatives,  some  of 
whom  have  already  brought  distinction  both  upon 
themselves  and  upon  him.  Among  these  is  the 
Rev.  Matthew  La  Rue  Perrine  Thompson,  D.  D., 
formerly  of  Philadelphia,  but  now  of  Buffalo,  New 
York. 

At  the  commencement  of  Mr.  Perrine 's  ministry 
in  Madison,  he  resided  in  the  old  parsonage,  of 
which  we  have  already  spoken  ;  but  having  subse- 
quently erected  a  dwelling  for  himself — the  one 


52  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

now  occupied  by  Mr.  Beaupland — he  made  this  his 
residence  until  his  removal  to  New  York  ;  and  it 
was  while  he  was  occupying  his  own  house,  that 
the  congregation  disposed  of  their  parsonage  ;  the 
amount  for  which  it  was  sold  being  $2,350.  This 
occurred  in  the  year  1810 ;  and  from  that  time 
until  the  spring  of  1854 — a  period  of  about  forty- 
four  years — the  parish  was  destitute  of  a  parsonage 
for  the  accommodation  of  their  minister. 

About  the  commencement  of  the  last  war  with 
Great  Britain,  to  wit,  on  the  19th  of  October, 
1812,  the  church  and  congregation  united  in  a  call 
to  the  Rev.  John  G.  Bergen,  to  become  their  pas- 
tor. This  call  he  accepted,  and  entered  immedi- 
ately upon  his  labors.  Mr.  Bergen  graduated  at 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  year  1808  ;  and 
he  served  as  a  tutor  in  that  Institution  from  1810 
to  1812,  a  period  of  about  two  years.  He  was 
ordained  and  installed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Jersey, 
with  which  this  church  was  at  that  time  con- 
nected ;  and  from  the  tutorship  in  Princeton  he 
came  directly  here  to  assume,  for  the  first  time,  the 
responsibilities  of  a  pastor.  He  purchased  the  res- 
idence of  his  predecessor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perrine  ; 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  53 

arid  there  he  continued  to  reside  during  his  entire 
ministry  in  this  place. 

At  the  time  of  his  settlement  here,  the  eldership 
of  the  church  consisted  of  the  following  gentle- 
men, to  wit :  Messrs.  Ephraim  Sayre,  Enos  Ward, 
Israel  Lum,  Benjamin  Thompson,  Samuel  Much- 
more,  Jacob  Bonnel,  William  Thompson,  Aaron 
Burnet,  Jonathan  Thompson,  and  Stephen  Day. 
Soon  after  Mr.  Bergen  came  to  this  place,  the  con- 
gregation purchased  a  valuable  lot  of  wood-land  in 
the  "  Great  Swamp"  in  the  vicinity  of  Grreen  Vil- 
lage, for  the  use  of  the  minister.  This  property 
contained  about  twenty  acres,  and  cost  the  society 
the  sum  of  $444  37.  About  seven  years  subse- 
quently, the  wood  having  been  taken  from  it,  the 
society  again  disposed  of  it. 

Five  years  after  this,  to  wit,  in  the  year  1817, 
the  name  of  the  congregation  was  changed  by  an 
act  of  the  Legislature,  from  "  The  Presbyterian 
Church  of  South  Hanover,"  which  it  had  borne  for 
about  seventy  years,  to  "  The  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  township  of  Chatham,"  by  which  it 
continued  to  be  designated  for  nearly  thirty  years 
following,  until  January,  1846,  when  it  was  again 


54 

changed  by  the  Legislature,  to  "  The  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Madison,"  which  name  it  still  bears. 

In  the  early  periods  of  the  church's  history,  the 
religious  education  of  the  rising  generation  was 
chiefly  of  a  domestic  character.  It  was  quite  com- 
mon for  the  pastors  of  the  churches  to  visit  the 
schools  in  their  respective  neighborhoods,  and  to 
catechize  the  children  as  frequently  as  practicable. 
Parents,  however,  took  the  principal  direction  of  this 
important  matter.  The  Shorter  Catechism,  com- 
piled by  the  Westminster  Assembly,  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  children,  and  on  each  returning 
Sabbath,  a  season  was  set  apart  for  the  recitation 
of  that  invaluable  formulary  of  Christian  doctrine. 
The  Scriptures  were  likewise  read,  and  devotional 
hymns  sung  ;  and  in  this  way  the  young  were  at 
that  time  trained  up  il  in  the  nurture  and  admoni- 
tion of  the  Lord."  And  this  continued  to  be  the 
case  within  the  limits  of  this  congregation  until 
the  year  1817,  when  the  first  Sabbath-school  was 
instituted  in  this  place.  The  leading  agent  in  the 
formation  of  the  Sabbath-school  was  Mr.  William 
Thompson,  at  that  time  an  elder  in  this  church, 
but  now  a  resident  in  the  village  of  Jersey,  Ohio. 
This  gentleman  had  become  deeply  interested  in 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  55 

Sabbath-schools  from  the  perusal  of  a  tract  on 
that  subject ;  and  in  order  to  awaken  a  similar 
interest  in  the  minds  of  others,  he  read  the  tract 
in  the  prayer-meeting  which  was  at  that  time  held 
on  Sabbath  afternoon,  in  the  upper  room  of  the 
Academy.  This  had  the  desired  effect.  The  sub- 
ject was  talked  about  for  a  week  or  two,  when 
Mr.  Thompson  said  to  some  of  his  friends,  that  if 
they  would  unite  with  him,  they  would  at  once 
make  the  effort  to  establish  a  Sabbath-school  here. 
Persons  were  not  wanting,  to  embark  with  him 
upon  this  new  method  of  instructing  the  young  ; 
and,  as  a  consequence,  the  work  was  immediately 
begun.  Mr.  Thompson  was  appointed  the  first 
superintendent ;  and  the  first  teachers  were  Amelia 
Bruen,  Julia  Thompson,  Lucinda  Bruen,  Lillys 
Cook,  Priscilla  Sayre,  and  Nancy  Cook. 

At  first  this  School  was  kept  open  only  during 
the  summer  months  ;  simply  for  the  reason  that  it 
was  supposed  to  be  a  thing  utterly  impracticable 
to  maintain  it  during  the  winter.  In  the  year 
1834,  however,  the  experiment  was  tried  of  keep- 
ing it  up  during  the  winter  ;  and  from  that  time 
to  the  present  it  has  been  maintained  through  the 
entire   year.       The   school   was    kept   for   nearly 


56  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

eighteen  years  in  the  upper  room  of  the  academy, 
where  it  was  first  opened  ;  and  at  one  time,  over  a 
hundred  scholars  regularly  met  for  religious  in- 
struction in  that  place ;  and  it  was  not  until  about 
the  year  1840,  that  it  was  removed  to  the  gallery 
of  the  church,  where  it  has  since  been  kept. 

This  interesting  institution  has  been  maintained 
with  commendable  fidelity,  and  with  various  suc- 
cess, until  the  present  time  ;  and  it  has  unques- 
tionably proved  an  incalculable  blessing  to  this 
church,  as  well  as  to  this  entire  community.  The 
great  majority  of  those  who  have  been  members  of 
the  school  have  been  hopefully  converted  to  Grod, 
and  an  influence  has  in  this  way  been  set  on  foot, 
the  full  extent  of  which  can  never  be  realized 
until  the  revelations  of  the  judgment-day. 

The  December  of  1819  is  memorable  in  the  an- 
nals of  this  congregation  as  the  time  when,  by  a 
formal  and  well-considered  vote  of  the  parish, 
the^rs^  stove  was  introduced  into  our  sanctuary. 
The  committee  appointed  to  look  after  this  matter 
consisted  of  Messrs.  Nathaniel  Roberts,  Charles 
Carter,  Jacob  Bonnel,  and  Benjamin  Thompson. 
For  nearly  seventy  years  previous  to  this  time, 
our  ancestors  worshipped  without  seeming  to  have 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  57 

had  the  most  remote  conception  of  so  obvious  a 
source  of  comfort  in  the  house  of  God.  They  rode, 
in  many  instances  for  several  miles,  to  the  sanc- 
tuary ;  attended  two  services,  with  an  intermission 
of  an  hour  between  them,  and  rode  to  their  homes 
again,  without  even  uthe  smell  of  fire  having 
passed  upon  them  !" 

During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Bergen  here,  there 
were  very  considerable  accessions  made  to  the 
church ;  and  the  congregation  became  so  large 
that  soon  after  he  commenced  his  labors  here,  the 
erection  of  a  new  and  more  spacious  house  of  wor- 
ship began  to  be  seriously  talked  about.  Four 
revivals  of  religion,  of  greater  or  less  extent,  were 
enjoyed  ;  and  in  the  year  1822  especially,  one 
was  witnessed  which  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful 
remembrance  by  this  people.  As  the  result  of  this 
work  of  grace,  not  far  from  ninety  persons  con- 
nected themselves  with  this  church,  upon  a  profes- 
sion of  their  faith  in  Christ.  At  the  close  of  the 
year  just  mentioned,  the  church  enrolled  more 
members  than  it  ever  had  done  before,  or  ever  has 
done  since.  The  whole  number  at  that  time  in 
full  communion  was  three  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  matter  of  enlarging  the  old  house  of  wor- 


58  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON 


ship,  or  of  erecting  a  new  one,  had  been  seriously 
talked  about  by  the  congregation  as  early  as  the 
year  ]$08,  when  a  committee  of  fifteen  was  ap- 
pointed to  examine  the  old  church  and  report 
"  what  repairs  were  necessary,  and  whether  a  new 
church  was  needed,  and  if  so,  where  it  should  be 
located."  The  subject  continued  to  be  matter  of 
conversation  and  discussion  at  the  parish  meetings 
and  in  private  circles,  from  year  to  year,  until  the 
year  1822,  when  it  was  at  length  brought  to  an 
issue.  A  new  church  was  determined  upon, 
chiefly  for  the  reason  that  the  old  one  was  too 
small  to  accommodate  the  congregation ;  and  on 
the  4th  of  February,  1823,  matters  had  progressed 
so  far,  that  the  parish  was  called  together  to  de- 
liberate and  agree  upon  a  site  for  it.  It  will  be 
borne  in  mind  that  this  was  still  the  only  parish 
within  the  limits  of  this  township  ;  and  when  the 
question  as  to  the  location  of  the  new  edifice  came 
up,  there  was  naturally  not  a  little  difference  of 
judgment  among  the  people.  Those  who  resided 
in  and  about  Chatham  village,  wanted  it  located 
on  the  point  of  the  hill  opposite  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Alexander  Bruen  ;  whereas  those  who  resided 
in  this  village,  as  well  as  those  who  lived  west  and 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,    MADISON.  59 

south  of  the  old  meeting-house,  greatly  preferred 
that  it  should  be  located  somewhere  in  the  vicinity 
of  our  present  lecture-room.  The  territory  em- 
braced in  the  congregation  was  surveyed,  and  its 
geographical  centre  was  found  to  be  only  a  few 
rods  from  the  spot  where  the  lecture-room  now 
stands.  This,  however,  did  not  change  the  deter- 
minations of  the  south-eastern  section  of  the  con- 
gregation. It  was  then  proposed  that  the  Hon. 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  and  the  Hon.  Joseph  C. 
Hornblower,  of  Newark,  be  authorized  to  appoint 
at  their  discretion,  five  individuals  "  whose  business 
it  should  be  to  visit  the  parish,  inspect  its  bound- 
aries, view  the  different  sites  named,  take  into  view 
all  previous  proceedings  had  in  relation  to  the 
building  of  a  new  church,  and  fix  upon  that  site 
which,  in  their  opinion,  should  appear  to  be  most 
eligible ;"  "  and  their  decision"  it  was  recom- 
mended, "  should  conclude  the  whole  matter,  and 
receive  the  concurrence  of  all  parties."  This  pro- 
posal, however,  was  not  accepted;  and  at  length, 
so  strenuous  were  our  friends  in  Chatham,  in  their 
opposition  to  the  site  fixed  upon  by  this  portion 
of  the  parish,  that  the  latter  agreed  to  compromise 


60  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

the  matter,  and  locate  the  new  edifice  where  we 
are  now  assembled. 

This  decision  was  arrived  at  on  the  4th  day  of 
February,  1823.  A  very  large  number  of  the 
active  members  of  the  parish  convened  in  the  old 
meeting-house  on  that  day  ;  the  trustees  and 
others  having  this  matter  in  charge,  reported  that 
they  had  agreed  to  recommend  the  site  above 
referred  to,  which  was  described  as  "  the  ground 
lying  between  the  houses  of  Alexander  M.  Miller 
and  Daniel  Burnet ;"  the  subject  was  discussed  at 
great  length,  both  parties  having  ample  oppor- 
tunity afforded  them  for  the  expression  of  their 
views  ;  and  upon  the  vote  being  taken,  it  was 
found  that  a  very  large  majority  were  in  favor  of 
the  place  wThere  the  church  now  stands.  Against 
this  decision  a  protest  was  presented,  signed  by 
upwards  of  forty  individuals  residing  in  the 
vicinity  of  Chatham  village  ;  and  this,  the  con- 
gregation consented  to  have  recorded  upon  their 
book  of  minutes.  Notwithstanding  all  that  had 
occurred,  it  was  hoped,  not  without  reason,  that 
the  parties  would  yet  be  brought  to  harmonize, 
with  cordiality,   in   this  decision.      The  reverse, 


61 

however,  was  the  fact.  It  soon  became  apparent 
that  the  attempted  compromise  had  effected 
nothing.  On  the  20th  of  October,  1823,  the 
Chatham  branch  of  the  congregation  withdrew, 
and  organized  a  new  church  in  that  village, 
placing  themselves  under  the  care  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Jersey.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  in  Chatham  Village,  of  which 
the  Rev.  Asa  Lyman  was,  for  about  four  years, 
the  stated  supply  ;  and  of  which  the  Rev.  Joseph 
M.  Ogden  has  been  the  pastor  since  the  23d  of 
June,  1828, — a  period  of  about  twenty-six  and  a 
half  years ;  and  this,  too,  is  the  reason  why  the 
sanctuary  in  which  we  are  now  assembled  was 
located,  as  it  is,  so  far  from  the  centre  of  our  own 
village.  Its  location  here  is  a  substantial  and 
impressive  evidence  of  the  readiness  of  this  people, 
to  yield  up  the  convictions  of  their  judgment,  as 
well  as  their  decided  preferences,  for  the  sake  of 
peace.  Long  may  this  continue  to  be  the  real 
character  of  this  people  ! 

Having  thus  decided  upon  a  site,  the  congrega- 
tion now  resolved  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  church.  Messrs.  William  Brittin, 
Ichabod     Bruen,     Lewis    Carter,     and    William 


62  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON. 


Thompson,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  visit 
churches  in  the  vicinity,  and  to  decide  upon  a 
plan.  This  preliminary  work  having  been  per- 
formed, the  Society  appointed  a  building  com- 
mittee, with  instructions  to  proceed,  with  all 
proper  despatch,  to  the  execution  of  the  work. 
That  committee  consisted  of  the  following  indi- 
viduals, to  wit :  William  Brittin,  John  Sturges, 
Archibald  Sayre,  Luke  Miller,  Lewis  Carter, 
John  Roberts,  and  Ichabod  Bruen,  who  were 
authorized  to  fill  any  vacancies  which  might  occur 
in  their  number,  and  to  superintend  the  work 
until  its  completion.  This  committee  subsequent- 
ly appointed  William  Brittin  and  William  Thomp- 
son, who  were  at  that  time  members  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  a  sub-committee  to  take  the 
special  oversight  of  the  work  as  it  advanced,  to 
provide  the  materials,  and  to  employ  and  pay  the 
workmen.  The  master  carpenters  selected  were 
Messrs.  Ichabod  Bruen  and  Lewis  Carter ;  and 
the  head  mason  appointed  was  John  Sturges,  of 
Green  Village.  In  the  spring  of  1824,  the  foun- 
dation was  laid  ;  and  in  the  spring  of  1825,  just 
one  year  after,  the  house  was  completed,  and  the 
keys  handed  over  to  the  president  of  the  Board  of 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  63 

Trustees.  The  bell,  whose  sweet  tones  have  so 
often  summoned  the  people  of  Grod  to  the  house  of 
prayer,  weighs  about  seven  hundred  pounds  ; 
was  purchased  of  Mr.  Ephraim  Force,  of  New 
York,  at  a  cost  of  about  six  hundred  and  forty- 
five  dollars  ;  and  was  lifted  to  its  place  early  in 
April  of  the  year  just  mentioned  ;  and  now,  the 
church  and  congregation  are  ready  to  dedicate  this 
new  edifice  to  the  worship  of  Grod. 

Many  were  the  prayers  which  were  put  up  by 
devout  hearts  in  all  this  region,  while  the  work 
was  in  progress.  Many  were  the  efforts  which 
were  put  forth,  and  many  the  anxieties  experi- 
enced, before  the  work  was  completed.  Many  were 
the  tears  of  joy  that  were  shed,  when,  at  length, 
the  last  stone  was  lifted  to  its  place,  amidst  shout- 
ings of  "  grace,  grace  unto  it!"  And  now  let  us 
look  in  upon  the  congregation,  as  they  have  con- 
vened to  engage  in  the  dedication  services.  It 
was  on  the  18th  day  of  May,  1825.  Sad  memo- 
ries crowded  upon  their  minds,  as  they  left  the 
sanctuary  in  which  their  fathers  had  worshipped 
for  so  many  years  before  ;  and  happy  thoughts,  at 
the  same  time,  possessed  them,  as  they  went  up, 
for  the   first  time,  to  offer  their  worship  in  this 


64 

new  house  of  prayer.  A  great  company  of  per- 
sons, of  all  ages  and  conditions,  were  seen  wending 
their  way  to  this  new  "  hill  of  Zion "  on  that 
glad  and  beautiful  spring  morning.  The  house 
was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  both  above 
and  below.  A  common  impulse  had  brought  the 
multitude  together,  and  common  sentiments  of 
thanksgiving  and  praise  arose  in  every  heart. 
Here  and  there  sat  the  fathers  and  pillars  of  the 
church,  with  gratitude  and  joy  engraven  on  every 
lineament  of  their  countenances.  Scattered  about 
in  the  assembly,  too,  were  those  who  had  borne 
the  chief  responsibility  in  the  erection  of  the  new 
edifice  ;  and  they,  too,  were  happy  on  that  day. 
There,  too,  were  the  young,  with  bounding  hearts 
and  glad  faces,  unfurrowed  as  yet  by  care,  and 
unused  as  yet  to  the  disappointments  and  trials 
of  life.  At  the  head  of  the  choir  sat  their  leader, 
Lewis  Carter,  and  around  him  were  gathered  a 
group  of  singers,  chiefly  in  the  morning  of  life, 
awaiting  the  signal  of  their  conductor,  to  give 
utterance  to  the  joy  that  glowed  in  their  hearts. 
Common  sympathies  and  common  emotions  per- 
vaded the  whole  assembly. 

And  now  the  hour  of  service  has  arrived.     The 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON. 

pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Bergen,  introduced  the  solemni- 
ties of  the  occasion.  The  blessing  of  G-od  was 
invoked  upon  entering  into  this  new  and  beauti- 
ful sanctuary.  They  united  in  singing  a  song  of 
thanksgiving.  Prayer  then  was  offered,  in  which 
the  edifice,  with  all  that  appertained  to  it,  was 
solemnly  set  apart  to  the  worship  of  Almighty 
Grod.  A  portion  of  Scripture  appropriate  to  the 
occasion  was  read.  Again  they  united  in  the 
song  of  gratitude  and  praise.  The  pastor  then 
preached  a  discourse,  full  of  good  sense  and  piety, 
on  the  words,  "  Enter  into  his  courts  with  thanks- 
giving, and  into  his  gates  with  praise."  Prayer 
was  again  offered  ;  and  again  was  the  new  edifice 
consecrated  to  Grod.  Again  they  sang  in  joyful 
concert  : 

"  Far  as  thy  name  is  known, 

The  world  declares  thy  praise  ; 
Thy  saints,  O  Lord,  before  thy  throne. 

Their  songs  of  honor  raise. 
Let  strangers  walk  around 

The  city  where  we  dwell, 
Compass  and  view  the  holy  ground, 

And  mark  the  building  well,"  &c* 

Then  the  benediction  was  pronounced,  and  the 
*  Psalm  48,  second  part,  S.  M. 


66  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

assembly  retired  to  their  homes,  amidst  mutual 
congratulations  and  thanksgivings,  to  bless  (rod  for 
what  their  eyes  had  seen,  and  their  ears  had  heard, 
on  that  day. 


HOLTo*A.WRDiNFif  „.t 
THE    NEW    CHURCH. 


The  dimensions  of  the  church  are  fifty-five  feet 
by  seventy-five.  It  is  constructed  of  brick,  its 
side  walls  being  twenty-four,  and  its  end  walls 
twenty  inches,  thick.  It  has  a  gallery  extending 
around  three  sides  ;  is  neatly  carpeted  and  other- 
wise furnished  ;  contains  an  excellent  organ,  and 
all  the   other  arrangements  of    a  well-appointed 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  67 

sanctuary,  and  is  capable  of  seating  comfortably 
about  nine  hundred  persons. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  substantial  and 
beautiful  sanctuary  in  which  we  are  stated  wor- 
shippers. It  has  now  been  standing  nearly  thirty 
years  ;  and  it  has  already  been  a  witness  of  several 
precious  revivals — of  many  most  delightful  com- 
munion seasons  ;  and  to  a  great  multitude,  both 
here  and  elsewhere,  it  is  the  centre  of  many  of  the 
most  tender  and  delightful  associations.  It  stands 
to-day  a  monument  of  the  perseverance  and  self- 
sacrificing  zeal  of  our  fathers,  as  well  as  of  their 
good  taste  and  their  piety  ;  and  here  may  it  stand 
long  to  be  a  source  of  the  choicest  blessings  to 
this  entire  community,  both  in  this  world  and  in 
that  which  is  to  come. 

Mr.  Bergen  continued  to  officiate  as  the  pastor 
of  this  church  for  about  three  years  after  the  new 
sanctuary  was  opened  for  divine  worship,  and  he 
appears  to  have  been  a  very  successful  and  useful 
pastor  here,  until  the  August  of  1828,  when,  at 
his  own  request,  he  was  dismissed  ;  having  been 
in  this  relation  for  a  period  of  nearly  sixteen  years. 
From   this  place   he   soon   after  removed  to   the 


68  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

"West,  where  he  is  still  living,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Springfield,  Illinois. 

After  Mr.  Bergen  had  retired,  the  congregation 
appear  to  have  been  without  the  services  of  a 
regular  pastor  for  nearly  two  years.  During  this 
time  the  Rev.  Daniel  Beers  was  called  here  by  a 
vote  of  fifty-two  to  forty-two  ;  and  after  preaching 
about  six  months,  and  finding  but  little  prospect 
of  a  harmonious  settlement  here,  he  was  never 
installed. 

For  a  considerable  time  after  this,  the  congre- 
gation were  unable  to  agree  upon  any  one  whom 
they  should  call  to  become  their  pastor,  until  the 
month  of  October,  1830,  when  they  extended  a 
call  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Gr.  Frazer.  This 
call  he  accepted,  and  entered  at  once  upon  his 
labors,  his  place  of  residence,  while  here,  being 
the  house  since  occupied  by  Mr.  Sherrill,  near 
the  railroad  bridge.  Mr.  Frazer  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  received  his  education  in  that 
country.  Previous  to  his  coming  to  this  place,  he 
labored  for  several  years  as  the  pastor  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  in  Westfield,  in  this  State,  where 
his  efforts  to  build  up  the  Redeemer's  kingdom 
appear  to    have   been   considerably  blessed.     He 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  69 

continued  the  pastor  of  this  church  for  about  one 
and  a  half  years,  until  February,  1832,  when  he 
resigned  his  charge  and  withdrew. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  our  village  received 
its  present  appropriate  and  beautiful  name.  Being 
dissatisfied  with  the  name  of  "  Bottle  HUP''  which 
it  had  borne  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  previ- 
ously, and  having  become  earnest  and  active 
friends  of  the  temperance  reformation,  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  village  met  together,  and  unani- 
mously resolved  to  drop  this  odious  appellation, 
and  substitute  for  it  the  name  of  Madison.  This 
was  the  name  that  had  been  given  to  the  academy 
more  than  twenty  years  before  ;  and,  as  it  will 
readily  suggest  itself  to  all,  it  was  given  both  to 
that  edifice,  and  subsequently  to  the  village,  in 
honor  of  the  fourth  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  pulpit  was  vacant  for  about  nine  months 
after  Mr.  Frazer's  dismission,  until  the  autumn 
of  1832,  when  the  church  and  congregation  in- 
vited the  Rev.  Clifford  S.  Arms  to  become  their 
pastor.  Mr.  Arms  was  born  in  Sunderland,  Mass., 
on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  river,  on  the 
4th    of   June,  1796.      The  principal    portion  of 


70  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,    MADISON. 

his  early  life  was  spent  in  Canaan,  Columbia 
county,  New  York  ;  and  there  it  was  that  in  the 
year  1817,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  hope- 
fully converted  to  Grod,  and  made  a  public  profes- 
sion of  religion.  His  preparatory  studies  were 
pursued  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Moses  Hallock, 
father  of  the  Rev.  William  A.  Hallock,  of  the 
American  Tract  Society.  In  the  fall  of  1820  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Freshman  class  in  Wil- 
liam's College,  where  he  remained  but  one  year. 
He  then  entered  Union  College  at  Schenectady, 
New  York,  where,  after  three  years'  study,  he  grad- 
uated in  the  year  1824.  In  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year,  he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Princeton  in  this  State,  and  after  a  three  years' 
course,  graduated  in  the  month  of  September, 
1827. 

He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  GrospeJ  one  year 
previous  to  his  leaving  the  seminary  ;  and  when 
he  had  completed  his  studies  in  that  institution, 
he  labored  four  or  five  months  as  a  missionary  in 
''  The  Pines"  of  this  State,  under  the  Ladies' 
Missionary  Society  of  Princeton.  In  the  fall  of 
1827,  he  assumed  the  charge  of  a  small  church  in 
Middletown  Point,  Monmouth   county,  N.  J.,  and 


71 

while  he  was  there,  he  received  ordination  as  an 
evangelist,  from  the  same  Presbytery  that  gave 
him  license.  The  relation  which  he  sustained  to 
that  church  was  that  of  stated  supply  ;  and  while 
connected  in  this  way  with  the  church,  his  labors 
appear  to  have  been  signally  blessed  to  its  enlarge- 
ment and  permanent  establishment. 

After  laboring  in  that  field  for  a  period  of  about 
five  years,  he  received  a  call  to  become  the  pastor 
of  this  church  at  the  time  above  stated  ;  and  in 
the  month  of  October  of  that  year  (1832)  he  re- 
moved his  family  to  this  place,  and  was  regularly 
inducted  into  the  pastoral  office  here,  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Elizabethtown,  the  Rev.  David  Magie, 
D.  D.,  and  others,  taking  part  in  the  services. 

While  here,  he  resided  for  a  short  time  in  the 
house  of  the  widow  Cook,  opposite  the  academy  ; 
then  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Henry 
Keep  ;  and  then  in  a  house  belonging  to  the  family 
of  the  late  Archibald  Sayre,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Catholic  church.  This  last  was  his  principal 
residence  while  the  pastor  of  this  church. 

The  Session  of  the  church  at  that  time  was 
composed  of  Messrs.  William  Crowell,  Ichabod 
Bruen,  Lewis  Thompson,  Charles  Carter,  and  Zo- 


72  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

pliar  Freeman  ;  and  during  his  ministry  here, 
Messrs.  Ira  Burnet,  Ashbel  Carter,  and  William 
P.  Conklin  were  added  to  that  body. 

It  was  during  Mr.  Arms'  pastorate  here,  that 
the  Morris  and  Essex  Railroad  was  constructed 
through  this  village.  The  right  of  way  along  the 
southern  border  of  the  burying-ground,  and  imme- 
diately in  front  of  the  site  of  the  old  meeting- 
house, was  granted  to  the  company  by  the  congre- 
gation in  the  month  of  January,  1836  ;  and  the 
road  was  completed,  and  cars  were  passed  over  it 
for  the  first  time,  as  far  as  this  place,  in  the  month 
of  October  of  the  year  following.  The  occasion  of 
its  completion  was  one  of  great  interest  to  this 
community  :  and  its  construction  has  proved,  in 
every  point  of  view,  an  incalculable  benefit  to  this 
entire  surrounding  region. 

In  the  year  1838,  all  access  to  the  burying- 
ground  having  been  cut  off  by  the  building  of  the 
railroad,  as  just- stated,  the  present  road  to  it  was 
opened  from  the  turnpike  ;  the  land  for  this  object 
having  been  obtained  of  Mr.  Henry  Keep. 

In  the  course  of  the  same  year,  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  in  this  place  was  erected.  This 
was  done-by  the  descendants  of  a  wealthy  French 


73 

gentleman,  who  emigrated  to  this  place  from  the 
Island  of  Gruadaloupe  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
last  century.  This  gentleman,  whose  name  was 
Mr.  Vincent  Boisaubin,  resided  on  the  property 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  A.  M.  Treadwell,  and  was 
very  highly  esteemed  and  respected  by  this  entire 
community.  For  many  years  previous  to  the 
erection  of  the  Catholic  church  here,  both  he  and 
his  family  owned  seats  and  were  frequent  wor- 
shippers in  our  own  sanctuary ;  and  for  this  rea- 
son, these  facts  have  been  regarded  as  proper  mat- 
ters to  be  recorded  in  the  Annals  of  this  society. 

In  the  year  1842,  a  number  of  gentlemen  be- 
longing to  the  parish,  united  together  and  pur- 
chased the  organ  that  is  now  standing  in  our  sanc- 
tuary. This  instrument  was  constructed  by 
Messrs.  Charles  and  Davis  Marsh,  of  Union  Hill  in 
this  township  ;  and  cost  the  sum  of  four  hundred 

dollars. 

0 

On  the  17th  of  October  1843,  this  church  and 
congregation  were  transferred  from  the  "Presby- 
tery of  Elizabethtown" — with  which  body  they 
had  previously  been  connected  from  the  time  of  its 
formation — to  the  "  Presbytery  of  Newark,"  with 
which  they  are  connected  at  the  present  time. 


74  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

As  it  respects  the  ecclesiastical  connections 
which  this  church  has  sustained  from  the  period 
of  its  organization,  it  may  be  interesting  at  this 
point  to  state,  that  its  first  connection  was  with 
the  old  Presbytery  of  New  York.  That  body,  at 
or  about  the  time  of  the  formation  of  this  church, 
was  composed  of  the  following  ministers,  to  wit : 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Azariah  Horton  (pastor  of  this 
church),  John  Pierson,  EbenezerPemberton,  Simon 
Horton,  Aaron  Burr,  James  Davenport,  David 
Bostwick,  Jacob  Green,  Caleb  Smith,  John 
Brainerd,  Elihu  Spencer,  Daniel  Thane,  Enos 
Ayres,  John  Moffet,  Chauncy  Graham,  Timothy 
Syms,  John  Grant,  Timothy  Jones,  Aaron 
Richards  (afterwards  stated  supply  in  this  place), 
Alexander  Cummins,  and  Jonathan  Elmore. 

In  this  connection  the  church  was  associated 
first  with  the  "  Synod  of  Philadelphia,"  then  with 
the  "Synod  of  New  York,"  until  the  year  1758, 
when  these  two  Synods  having  become  united 
under  the  name  of  the  - '  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,"  it  became  connected  with  that 
body,  which  at  that  time  embraced  all  the  Pres- 
byterian churches  and  ministers  in  this  country. 
In  the  year  1780,  a  few  clergymen  in  this  vicinity, 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  7o 

having  a  strong  predilection  for  the  Congregational 
method  of  church  government,  withdrew  from  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  formed  a  new  Pres- 
bytery^which  was  called  the  "  Morris  County  Pres- 
bytery." The  father  and  founder  of  this  body 
was  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  of  Hanover  ;  and  asso- 
ciated with  him  were  the  Rev.  Amzi  Lewis,  of 
Warwick,  N.  Y. ;  the  Rev.  Joseph  Grover,  of  Par- 
sippany;  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Bradford,  of  this 
place,  and  others. 

Mr.  Bradford,  who  was  then  the  pastor  of  this 
church,  it  is  believed,  made  a  strong  effort  to  carry 
the  church  over  with  him  to  that  body  ;  and  the 
influence  of  several  neighboring  pastors,  as  well  as 
the  example  of  several  churches  in  the  vicinity, 
tended  very  strongly  in  that  direction.  But,  not- 
withstanding all  this,  the  church  adhered  to  its 
original  connection  with  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  until  the  formation  of  the  old  Presbytery  of 
Jersey,*  which  occurred  on  the  fourteenth  of  No- 


*  The  Presbytery  of  Jersey,  which  was  set  off  from  the  old  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  on  the  14th  of  November  1809,  comprised  all 
the  ministers  and  churches  in  this  State,  which  were  formerly  con- 
nected with  the  latter  body,  as  well  as  those  in  the  city  of  New 
York  and  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson  river  generally ;  and  ita 
first  regular  meeting  was  held  at  Morristown,  on  the  24th  of  April, 


76  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON 


vember,  1809,  when  it  was  regularly  set  off  by  the 
Synod  with  that  body.  In  this  new  connection  it 
then  stood,  until  the  Presbytery  of  Jersey  was  di- 
vided into  the  Presbyteries  of  Newark  and  Eliza- 
bethtown,#  which  occurred  in  the  autumn  of  1824, 
when  it  was  regularly  set  off  with  the  body  last 
named  ;  and  with  that  it  continued  to  be  ecclesias- 
tically connected  until  the  17th  of  October,  1843, 
as  has  already  been  stated,  when  it  withdrew  and 
united  itself  with  the  Presbytery  of  Newark,  with 
which  body  it  now  stands.  The  reason  of  this 
movement,  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  was  not  that 
the  church  had  experienced  any  change  in  relation 
to  their  doctrinal  views,  or  their  views  respecting 


1810 ;   the   Rev.  Asa  Hillyer,  D.D.,   of  Orange,  being  its  first 
moderator. 

*  "  In  the  autumn  of  1824,  the  Presbytery  of  Jersey,  which  had 
existed  under  that  name  fifteen  years,  was  divided  by  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey,  at  its  own  request,  into  two  Presbyteries — the  Pres- 
bytery of  Newark  and  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown,  of  which 
the  former  held  its  first  meeting  at  Jersey  City,  November  2,  1824. 
The  property  belonging  to  the  old  Presbytery,  consisting  of  books, 
money  for  purposes  of  education,  &c,  was  equally  divided  by  a 
committee,  appointed  for  that  purpose.  The  last  two  volumes  of 
the  records  were  assigned  to  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown,  and 
the  preceding  volumes,  including,  besides  those  of  the  old  Presby- 
tery of  New  York,  the  first  three  years  of  the  Presbytery  of  Jer- 
sey, and  running  back  to  the  year  1775,  to  that  of  Newark." — Dr. 
Steam's  First  Church,  Newark,  p.  299. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  77 

church  polity  ;  but  simply  and  solely,  because  its 
pastor  and  some  of  its  leading  members  sympa- 
thized with  that  part  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
which  they  believed  to  have  been  aggrieved  and 
injured  in  the  great  schism  which  occurred  in 
that  body  in  the  year  1838.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
notice,  and  not  a  little  singular,  that  in  leaving 
the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown  for  that  of  New- 
ark, this  church  has,  in  point  of  fact,  simply  gone 
from  one  branch  of  the  old  Presbytery  of  Jersey, 
to  the  other ;  and  that,  thus,  the  time-honored 
succession  in  which  it  has  stood  from  the  first,  is 
still  unbroken.  To  the  members  of  the  church 
and  congregation  it  must  consequently  be  matter 
of  great  satisfaction,  to  be  assured,  that  from  its 
very  origin  to  the  present  time,  it  has  been  truly 
and  thoroughly  Presbyterian,  in  all  its  affinities 
and  connections.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
attachment  of  its  early  members  to  Presbyterian- 
ism  had  not  a  little  to  do  with  their  withdrawal 
from  the  old  church  at  Whippany,  then  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Jacob  (xreen,  and  their 
organizing  a  new  church  in  this  place  ;  nor  is  it 
without  reason  that  the  opinion  is  harbored,  that 
this  same  love  of  the  principles  and  polity  of  the 


78 

Presbyterian  church  was  the  real  secret  of  Mr. 
Bradford's  short  ministry  here. 

The  year  1844  is  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  his- 
torical sketch,  as  the  year  when  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  this  village  was  erected,  and 
consecrated  to  the  worship  of  Gfod.  Persons  of  this 
persuasion  had  for  a  few  years  previously  kept  up 
occasional  religious  services  in  the  upper  room  of 
the  academy,  at  East  Madison,  or,  as  it  was  for- 
merly called,  "  Genung  Town."  Subsequently, 
they  met  in  a  large  room  connected  with  the 
umbrella  manufactory  of  Mr.  Henry  Keep,  in  this 
village,  until  the  year  above  mentioned,  when 
they  erected  the  neat  and  commodious  edifice  in 
which  they  now  statedly  worship.  The  congrega- 
tion at  that  time  belonged  to  the  same  circuit  as 
those  of  Whippany,  Chatham,  and  Green  Village  ; 
and  the  ministers  in  charge  were  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Lewis  R.  Dunn  and  Israel  S.  Corbit.  The  con- 
gregation is  now  associated  with  the  church  in 
Whippany  alone  ;  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Gfaskill  is 
the  minister  in  charge. 

In  the  year  1845,  the  burying-ground  was  con- 
siderably enlarged  by  the  purchase  of  some  ad- 
juring land  belonging  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sewall, 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  79 

for  which  the  parish  paid  one  hundred  dollars  ; 
and  in  the  year  1846,  the  name  of  the  congrega- 
tion was  changed  to  the  "  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Madison,"  which  it  now  bears. 

When  Mr.  Arms  began  his  labors  here,  the 
number  of  church  members  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty.  His  efforts  to  build  up  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  while  the  pastor  of  the  church,  were 
very  abundantly  and  signally  blessed.  Three  or 
four  revivals  of  religion  were  enjoyed  under  his 
ministry  ;  and  one  very  extensive  and  powerful 
one  marked  the  commencement  of  his  labors  in 
this  place.  In  the  multiplied  labors  connected 
with  this  work  of  grace,  he  was  assisted  by  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Peter  and  George  Kanouse,  as  well 
as  others,  whose  happy  influence  here  will  never 
cease  to  be  acknowledged  and  felt  in  this  com- 
munity. Large  numbers  were  received  into  the 
fellowship  of  the  church,  as  the  result  of  these 
special  efforts,  among  whom  were  many  heads  of 
families ;  and  the  congregation  enjoyed  a  remark- 
able degree  of  prosperity.  While  he  was  the  pastor 
of  this  church,  there  were  nearly  three  hundred 
persons  added  to  its  membership,  either  by  certifi- 
cate, or   upon  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 


80  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

The  Rev.  Nathaniel  E.  Pierson,  of  Westtown, 
New  York,  and  the  Rev.  Charles  H.  Force,  of 
Unadilla,  in  the  same  State,  are  in  the  number  of 
the  hopeful  converts  under  his  ministry. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1846,  the  congre- 
gation came  into  possession  of  the  "  Church 
Library  "  which  now  stands  in  the  pastor's  study 
at  the  parsonage.  This  library  contains  one 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  volumes  of  the  best 
works  which  have  been  issued  by  the  "  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Publication  ;"  and  for  it,  the  con- 
gregation are  indebted  to  the  generosity  of  Mr. 
David  Sayre,  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  a  son  of 
Mr.  Ephraim  Sayre,  who  for  many  years  was  a 
deacon  and  an  elder  in  this  church. 

For  a  great  many  years  the  evening  meetings 
in  this  village  were  held  in  the  upper  room  of  the 
academy.  This  was  a  very  inconvenient  and 
uncomfortable  place  for  divine  worship,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  project  of  erecting  a  lecture- 
room  for  this  purpose,  was  often  the  subject  of 
conversation.  At  length,  in  the  fall  of  1849,  a 
lot  was  purchased  of  Mrs.  Mahlon  Pierson,  on  the 
point  formerly  occupied  by  the  store  of  Mr. 
Obadiah    Crane  :    and    measures    were    at    once 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON. 


81 


adopted  to  erect  the  new  edifice.  The  following 
gentlemen  were  appointed  the  building  commit- 
tee, to  wit :  Messrs.  Benjamin  Birdsall,  George 
T.  Sayre,  and  Ashbel  Bruen.  The  latter,  how- 
ever, soon  resigned,  and  the  superintendence  of 
the  work  devolved,  as  a  consequence,  upon  the 
other  two  gentlemen  who  have  been  named. 
To  the  persevering  efforts  of  Mr.  Birdsall,  more, 
perhaps,  than  those  of  any  other  person,  is  the 
congregation  indebted  for  this  neat  and  com- 
modious edifice.     The  building  was  erected  dur- 


THE     LECTURE-ROOM. 


ing   the   year  1850,    and  was   dedicated  by  the 
pastor,    Rev.    Mr.    Arms,    assisted    by    the    Rev. 
4* 


82  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

Charles  H.  Force,  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  M.  Ogden, 
on  Sabbath  afternoon,  the  9th  day  of  February 
of  the  year  following.  Its  dimensions  are  twenty- 
eight  feet  by  forty-five.  It  is  constructed  of 
wood,  and  finished,  both  within  and  without,  in  a 
very  neat  and  simple  manner,  after  the  Grecian 
style.  It  is  well  carpeted,  and  otherwise  furnish- 
ed with  blinds,  sofa,  solar  lamps,  &c,  and  is 
capable  of  accommodating  about  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  persons.  The  Bible  and  Hymn-book, 
in  the  pulpit,  were  presented  by  Mr.  Benjamin 
Ludlow  Brittin,  of  Arkansas,  on  the  day  that  the 
house  was  dedicated. 

The  dedication  of  the  lecture-room  was  among 
the  concluding  acts  of  Mr.  Arms'  ministry  in  this 
church.  On  the  third  day  of  June  following, 
after  having  held  the  pastorate  for  about  eighteen 
and  a  half  years,  he  was  dismissed  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Newark,  at  his  own  request,  to  enter 
his  present  field  of  labor,  in  Ridgebury,  Orange 
county,  New  York ;  carrying  with  him  the  respect 
and  confidence,  as  well  as  the  kindly  wishes,  of 
his  people. 

About  three  months  after  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
Arms,  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Hughson  was  employed  by 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  83 

the  congregation  to  labor  among  them  as  a  stated 
supply.  He  was  a  native  of  Chester,  in  this 
State,  and  pursued  his  collegate  studies  at  Ober- 
lin,  Ohio,  and  his  theological,  at  the  "  Union 
Seminary,"  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  labored 
here  in  the  capacity  just  mentioned,  with  great 
diligence,  for  a  little  more  than  a  year,  when  he 
withdrew  to  enter  his  present  field  of  labor  in 
Penn  Yan,  Yates  county,  New  York. 

For  one  year  after  Mr.  Hughson's  retirement, 
the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  the  Rev.  John  M. 
Johnson,  of  Morristown.  Mr.  Johnson,  who  was  a 
son  of  the  late  Peter  A.  Johnson  of  the  place  just 
mentioned,  graduated  at  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey, in  the  year  1835  ;  and  pursued  his  theolog- 
ical studies  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York.  For  several  years  he  officiated  as  the 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  at  Hanover, 
until  the  year  1849,  when  he  was  obliged  to  retire 
from  pastoral  life,  on  account  of  an  affliction  which 
at  one  time  threatened  the  total  loss  of  his  sight. 
While  he  was  supplying  the  pulpit  in  this  place, 
he  was  instrumental  in  deciding  the  congregation 
to  relieve  themselves  of  an  unpleasant  debt  of  a 
considerable  amount,  which  for  some   years  pre- 


84:  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

viously  had  proved  the  occasion  of  no  little  diffi- 
culty ;  and  justice  requires  that  the  fact  should 
be  placed  on  record,  also,  that  to  the  efficiency 
and  persevering  efforts  of  the  ladies  of  the  parish 
this  important  result  is  in  a  great  measure  to  be 
ascribed.  In  a  great  variety  of  ways,  Mr.  John- 
son rendered  the  most  valuable  services  to  this 
congregation,  while  they  were  without  a  pastor  ; 
and  his  happy  influence  over  this  church,  it  is 
believed,  will  long  be  acknowledged  and  felt  by 
this  entire  community. 

I  will  only  add,  that  on  the  sixth  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1853,  the  church  and  congregation  united  in 
a  call  to  the  writer  of  this  history,  to  become  their 
pastor  ;  and  that  on  the  third  day  of  January, 
1854,  he  was  formally  inducted  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Newark,  into  his  present  responsible  posi- 
tion;  Rev.  Job  F.  Halsey,  of  West  Bloomfield, 
presiding,  and  proposing  the  constitutional  ques- 
tions ;  Rev.  Joseph  F.  Tuttle,  of  Rockaway 
(brother  of  the  pastor),  preaching  the  sermon, 
on  Mark  xvi.  15.  ;  Rev.  J.  Few  Smith,  of  the  Sec- 
ond Church  in  Newark,  delivering  the  charge  to 
the  pastor  ;  and  Rev.  John  M.  Johnson,  of  Morris- 
town,  the  charge  to  the  people. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  85 

The  writer,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  pardoned,  if,  for 
the  gratification  of  his  friends,  he  adds,  that  he  is 
a  native  of  Bloomfield,  in  this  State,  being  a  de- 
scendant, on  his  mother's  side,  of  Deacon  Law- 
rence Ward,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Newark ; 
and  on  his  father's,  of  Stephen  Tuttle,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Elizabethtown ;  that  he  pursued 
his  preparatory  studies  in  Bloomfield  ;  his  col- 
legiate studies  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
where  he  graduated  in  the  year  1836  ;  his  theo- 
logical studies  under  the  venerable  Dr.  Richards, 
in  the  seminary  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
graduated  in  the  year  1840  ;  that  in  the  month 
of  October,  of  the  same  year,  he  was  licensed  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Newark  to  preach  the  Grospel ; 
that,  three  months  subsequently,  he  was  installed 
by  the  same  body  as  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  at  Caldwell,  in  this  State,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  labor  for  about  eight  and  a  half  years  ; 
that,  after  resigning  his  charge  in  that  place,  he 
spent  nearly  five  years  in  the  service  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  as  their  "  Agent  for  Connecti- 
cut," and  as  their  "  Assistant  Secretary"  at  the 
Bible  House,  New  York  ;  and  that,  from  the  sec- 
retarial department  of  that   institution,  he  was 


86  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 


called  to  his  present  position  as  the  pastor  of  this 
church. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  pastorate, 
the  following  gentlemen  constituted  the  session  of 
this  church,  viz.  :  Messrs.  Ira  Burnet,  Lewis 
Thompson,  Ichabod  Bruen,  Ashbel  Carter,  and 
William  P.  Conklin.  The  deacons  of  the  church 
were,  Messrs.  William  Crowell  and  Ichabod 
Bruen,  the  former  of  whom  departed  this  life  on 
the  16th  of  February  following.  On  the  21st  day 
of  March,  immediately  ensuing,  the  church  made 
choice  of  the  following  individuals,  to  be  added  to 
the  session,  to  wit:  Messrs.  Wm.  M.  Muchmore 
and  Albert  Carter,  and  Dr.  Gfeorge  Cole ;  and  at 
the  same  time  they  elected  the  following  persons 
to  the  office  of  deacon,  to  wit:  Messrs.  Caleb  C. 
Burroughs,  Amaza  W.  Grenung,  and  David  M. 
Force. 

In  the  month  of  April  following,  the  congrega- 
tion purchased  their  present  commodious  parson- 
age, and  fitted  it  up  for  their  minister.  The 
property,  which  stands  on  the  corner  southwest 
of  the  academy,  and  was  formerly  occupied  as  a 
boarding-school  by  Mr.  Franklin  Sherril,  was 
bought  of  Abraham  Brittin,  Esq.,  for  the  sum  of 


87 

nineteen  hundred  dollars  ;  and  was  fitted  up  at  an 
expense  of  nearly  five  hundred  dollars,  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  H.  P.  Green  and  Mr.  James 
Albright,  the  former  of  whom  was  president,  and 


THE    PARSONAGE 


the  latter,  clerk,  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The 
dimensions  of  the  building  are  twenty-two  feet  by 
forty  ;  it  is  two  and  a  half  stories  high ;  and  has  a 
dry  and  well-lighted  basement.  It  contains  twelve 
finished  rooms,  and  twelve  closets  and  pantries 
besides  a  cellar  and  coal-room  ;  a  hall,  running 
through  the  centre,  twenty-one  feet  by  nine,  and 
an  inclosed  piazza  in  the  rear  of  it,  of  foity  feet  by 
eight.  The  dining-room  in  the  basement  is  about 
eighteen  feet  square  ;  while  the  parlor  on  the  first 


88  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 


floor,  and  the  study  on  the  second,  are  each 
twenty-one  feet  by  fourteen.  On  the  property  is 
a  good  barn,  well,  cistern,  &c.  ;  and  the  lot  con- 
tains a  little  more  than  half  an  acre.  Its  location 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  this  vicinity,  commanding 
very  extensive  and  beautiful  views  in  every  direc- 
tion. 

In  the  latter  part  of  March,  of  the  same  year, 
the  church  and  congregation  were  favored  with  a 
very  extensive  and  precious  revival  of  religion  ; 
and  it  is  with  unfeigned  gratitude  and  pleasure 
that  the  writer  is  able  to  state,  that,  during  the 
first  year  of  his  ministry  here,  there  were  received 
into  the  communion  of  this  church,  either  by  cer- 
tificate, or  upon  a  profession  of  their  faith  in 
Christ,  but  three  short  of  sixty  persons. 

The  church  and  congregation  have  great  reason 
to  be  thankful  that  they  possess  and  enjoy  all  the 
various  equipments  and  arrangements  of  a  well- 
ordered  Christian  parish.  Their  large,  substan- 
tial, and  well-appointed  sanctuary  ;  their  conve- 
nient and  beautiful  lecture-room  ;  their  venerable 
and  attractive  cemetery  ;  their  commodious  and 
spacious  parsonage  ;  and  all  their  other  conve- 
niences and  various  appliances  for  the  maintenance 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  89 

of  divine  worship,  place  them  in  a  very  high  rank 
among  neighboring  congregations.  In  an  outward 
point  of  view,  the  society  is,  perhaps,  in  a  more 
prosperous  condition  than  it  has  ever  been  before  ; 
and,  as  far  as  the  spiritualities  of  the  church  are 
concerned,  we  have,  all  of  us,  great  reason  to  be 
devoutly  thankful. 

With  respect  to  the  benevolent  operations  of  the 
parish,  it  may  be  proper  to  add,  in  this  connec- 
tion, that  the  following  societies  have  been  organ- 
ized, and  are  now  in  active  operation  among  us, 
to  wit:  the  "  Ladies'  Missionary  Society,"  which 
contemplates  the  raising  of  funds  in  aid  of  Foreign 
Missions  ;  the  "  Madison  Female  Bible  Society," 
which  labors  to  supply  those  who  are  destitute, 
within  our  limits,  with  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  the 
"Madison  Home  Missionary  Society,"  which  con- 
templates rendering  aid  to  the  Home  Missionary 
operations  of  the  day  ;  and  the  "  Madison  Tract 
Society,"  which  is  engaged  in  distributing  tracts, 
and  other  religious  publications,  from  house  to 
house  within  our  borders.  In  addition  to  these, 
we  have  among  us  a  vigorous  and  efficient  associa- 
tion, called  the  "  Ladies'  Diligent  Society,"  which 
contemplates  the  furnishing,  repairing,  &c,  of  the 


90  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,    MADISON. 

church  and  the  lecture-room.  All  these  societies 
are  diligently  employed  in  their  respective  spheres, 
and  are  accomplishing  much  good. 

The  stated  religious  services  of  the  church,  at 
the  present  time,  are  as  follows  :  at  half-past  ten 
on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  divine  worship  is 
held  in  the  sanctuary  ;  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  the  Sabbath-school  is  attended  in  the 
same  place  ;  and  on  Sabbath  evening,  divine  ser- 
vice is  attended  again  in  the  lecture-room.  On 
the  evening  of  Tuesday  the  prayer-meeting,  which 
has  been  regularly  maintained  for  the  last  sixty- 
five  years,  is  held  in  the  lecture-room  ;  and  on  the 
evening  of  Thursday,  a  weekly  lecture  is  delivered 
in  the  same  place.  The  monthly  concert  of  prayer 
for  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  is  attended  on  the 
Sabbath  evening  preceding  the  first  Monday  even- 
ing of  each  month ;  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
Sabbath,  the  pastor  lectures  alternately  in  the 
school-houses  at  Union  Hill,  East  Madison,  and 
Grreen  Village.  The  leading  causes  of  benevo- 
lence are  brought  before  the  church  at  stated  in- 
tervals ;  that  of  Foreign  Missions  being  assigned 
for  the  month  of  January,  and  that  of  Domestic 
Missions  for  the  month  of  July.     The  Lord's  Sup- 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON".     •         91 

per  is  statedly  celebrated  on  the  first  Sabbaths  of 
December,  March,  June,  and  September ;  the  pre- 
paratory lecture  being  attended  on  the  Saturday 
afternoon  preceding  each  of  these  seasons. 

The  officers  of  the  church  at  this  time  are  : 
Elders — Messrs.  Ichabod  Bruen,  Lewis  Thomp- 
son, Ira  Burnet,  Ashbel  Carter,  Wra.  P.  Conklin, 
G-eorge  Cole,  M.D.,  William  M.  Muchmore,  and 
Albert  Carter.  Deacons — Messrs.  Ichabod  Bruen, 
Caleb  C.  Burroughs,  David  M.  Force,  and  Amza 
"W.  G-enung.  Trustees — Henry  P.  Green,  M.D., 
James  Albright,  Geo.  E.  Sayre,  Amza  W.  Genung, 
"William  M.  Muchmore,  and  Albert  Carter. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add,  as  an  index  of  the 
present  character  of  this  people,  that  the  congre- 
gation, in  its  corporate  capacity,  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  publishing  five  hundred  copies  of 
this  history,  and  directed  their  Board  of  Trustees 
to  take  the  oversight  of  the  work. 

Such,  then,  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history 
and  the  present  condition  of  this  old  church  and 
congregation.  It  is  now  one  hundred  and  eight 
years  since  it  was  organized,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred and  six  years  since  our  first  house  of  worship 
was  erected  in  this  place.     The  worship  of  G-od 


92 

was  regularly  maintained  here  by  our  ancestors 
for  a  period  of  nearly  thirty  years,  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Revolutionary  War  ;  and  all 
through  that  dark  and  eventful  period,  our  sanc- 
tuary was  thrown  open  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
for  the  accommodation  of  all  classes  in  this  com- 
munity. Our  old  meeting-house  stood  on  yonder 
beautiful  eminence,  when  Washington  and  his 
army  were  passing  back  and  forth,  on  their  way 
from  the  sea-board  to  the  interior ;  and  while 
they  were  lying  in  winter  quarters  in  this 
vicinity,  many  of  them  repaired  thither  to  record 
their  vows  before  God ;  and  it  is  a  fact  that  we 
may  be  allowed  here  to  state,  that  when  the 
United  States  were  first  admitted  as  an  inde- 
pendent sovereignty  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  this  old  church  had  been  in  existence,  and 
been  shedding  light  upon  the  paths  of  men,  and 
been  gathering  in  precious  souls  for  heaven,  for  a 
period  of  nearly  forty  years.  One  year  after  the 
"  Declaration  of  Independence  "  was  published  to 
the  world,  the  first  pastor  of  this  church  was 
"gathered  to  his  fathers,"  having  been  toiling 
here  by  day  and  by  night,  to  win  souls  to  the 
Redeemer,  for  twenty-five  years.     For  four  gener- 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  93 

ations,  this  church  has  regularly  kept  up  the 
administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  main- 
tained all  the  other  rites  and  observances  of  our 
holy  religion.  During  all  that  time,  it  has  been 
throwing  up  barriers  in  the  way  of  the  progress  of 
vice  and  immorality  of  every  description;  it  has 
been  conducting  inquiring  souls  to  "  the  Lamb  of 
Crod,  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  ;" 
and  been  pointing  the  sons  and  daughters  of  sor- 
row to  Him  who  came  to  "  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted." The  number  of  those  who  have  been 
influenced  by  its  various  instrumentalities,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  "  walk  in  wisdom's 
ways,"  no  human  being  can  tell.  The  record  of 
all  these  is  on  high.  The  entire  number  of  those 
who  have  been  actual  members  of  the  church,  it  is 
wholly  out  of  our  power  to  determine.  On 
account  of  the  loss  of  our  sessional  records,  pre- 
vious to  the  year  1790,  we  shall  never  be  able  to 
know  hoiv  many,  and  who,  were  members  here, 
antecedent  to  that  time  ;  but  it  is  a  pleasure  that 
we  are  able  to  state,  that  the  number  of  persons 
enrolled  upon  the  catalogue  of  the  church,  since 
the  period  referred  to,  does  not  materially  vary 
from  one  thousand. 

6 


94 

"We  are  happy,  also,  to  be  able  to  state  that  nine 
of  the  children  of  the  church"  have  gone  forth 
from  us  to  proclaim  to  their  fellow  men  "  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ;"  and  that  two  others,! 
having  become  the  wives  of  Home  Missionaries, 
are  now  laboring  to  build  up  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom in  the  frontier  settlements  at  the  West. 

This  church  has  passed  through  many  trials. 
It  has  had  its  enemies,  although  now,  even  the 
names  of  these  have  passed  away  for  ever  from  the 
memory  of  all  the  living.  It  has  lost  many  tried 
and  self-sacrificing  friends.  At  various  periods  in 
its  history,  many  persons  who  have  been  its  firm- 
est pillars,  have  been  removed  by  death  ;  and  there 
have  been  many  others  who  have  left  us  at  various 
times  to  locate  themselves  in  other  parts  of  our 
country,  and  to  cast  in  their  influence  to  build  up 
Christian  institutions  elsewhere.     The  church  has, 


*  Rev.  Matthias  Burnet ;  Rev.  Barnabas  Bruen  ;  Rev.  Eliazer 
Burnet ;  Rev.  Franklin  Sherrill,  of  Wisconsin  ;  Rev.  Nathaniel  E. 
Pierson,  of  Orange  co.,  N.  Y.;  Rev.  Charles  H.  Force,  of  Otsego  co., 
N.  Y. ;  Rev.  Geo.  Thompson,  missionary  to  Africa ;  Rev.  M.  L.  R.  P. 
Thompson,  D.D.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  Wilmot  Thompson,  of  Ohio. 

f  Mrs.  Eliza  Carter  Orr,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Orr,  of  Wis- 
consin, and  daughter  of  the  late  Lewis  Carter  ;  and  Mrs.  Caroline 
Keep  Lum,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Y.  Lum,  of  the  territory  of 
Kansas,  and  adopted  daughter  of  Mr.  Henry  Keep,  of  this  place. 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,   MADISON".  95 

consequently,  seen  many  days  when  every  thing 
seemed  to  be  very  dark  and  unpromising.  It  has 
passed  through  periods  when  it  seemed  as  if  it  must 
go  down  ;  and  yet  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord  has  en- 
camped round  about  it,"  and  given  us  abundant 
evidence  that,  "  as  the  mountains  are  round  about 
Jerusalem,  so  is  the  Lord  round  about  his  people, 
from  henceforth,  even  for  ever." 

In  times  past,  the  church  has  been  an  object 
of  special  divine  favor.  G-od  has  granted  it  fre- 
quent and  most  wonderful  outpourings  of  his 
spirit,  in  answer  to  prayer;  many  revivals  of  relig- 
ion have  been  enjoyed  by  it,  and  from  generation 
to  generation  it  has  been  the  object  of  the  divine 
sympathy  and  care.  One  flourishing  Presbyterian 
church,  and  three  Methodist  Episcopal  churches, 
and,  within  the  past  year,  a  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,*  have  sprung  up  within  its  original  bounds, 
and  been  constituted,  in  some  measure,  of  those 
who  were  formerly  members  of  this  parish,  and 
yet  we  are  not  consumed. 

*  This  congregation  is  now  worshipping  in  "  Oriental  Hall ;" 
but  having  already  purchased  a  lot  adjoining  the  residence  of 
Augustus  Blanchet,  Esq.,  they  intend  erecting  a  church  for  their 
accommodation,  during  the  ensuing  spring.  Their  rector,  Rev.  ■ 
John  A.  Jerome,  has  been  preaching  for  them  now  about  three 
months. 


96  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,   MADISON. 

The  average  number  of  communicants  in  the 
church  during  sixteen  of  its  most  prosperous 
years,  and  when  it  was  the  only  church  in  the 
township  of  Chatham,  was  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
This  was  during  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Bergen  ;  and  at  the  present  time,  notwithstanding 
all  the  drafts  which  have  been  made  upon  us  by 
all  these  churches  around  us,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  losses  which  we  have  sustained  by  death 
and  by  removals  to  other  parts  of  the  country,  the 
number  of  our  communicants  is  but  little  short  of 
two  hundred  and  forty.  Since  the  church's  or- 
ganization, whole  generations  of  its  active  friends 
and  supporters  have  gone  down  to  the  grave,  and 
thousands  of  hearts  which  have  heretofore  beat  in 
sympathy  with  it,  have  been  chilled  by  the  hand 
of  death ;  and  there  have  been  junctures  in  its 
history,  arising  from  these  trying  dispensations, 
which  have  sometimes  caused  the  friends  of  this 
our  Zion,  to  feel  profoundly  anxious  for  the  future. 
As  the  pillars  of  the  church  have,  one  after  an- 
other, fallen,  the  prayer  has  often  gone  up  from 
this  sanctuary,  and  from  these  family  altars  all 
around  us,  "  Help,  Lord,  for  the  godly  man  ceaseth, 
for  the  faithful  fail  from  the  children  of  men  ;" 


PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON.  97 

and  we  have  reason  to  know  that  that  prayer  has 
as  often  been  heard  by  Him  who  heareth  prayer  ; 
and   it  is  our   happiness   to    know  that   this   old 
church,  which  we  have  inherited  from  our  fathers, 
is  now  neither  dead,  nor  declining,  but  that  under 
the  benignant  smiles  of  its  adorable   Saviour  and 
Head,  it  is  still  living,  to  hold  up  the  lamp  of  life 
before  the  world,  and  to  scatter  the  rich  blessings 
of  the  everlasting   Gospel   among   all  those  who 
live  within  its  reach.     Like  a  rich  merchant-ship, 
it  has  come  down  to  us,  wafted  by  the  prayers  of 
the  saints,  and  freighted  with  the  priceless  bless- 
ings of  redemption,  both  for  ourselves  and  for  the 
world  ;  and  to-day  it  is  our  happiness  to  behold  it 
riding  quietly  upon  the  great  stream  of  time  down 
which  it  has  come,  with  every  sail  set,  with  every 
streamer  flying,  and   under  the   favoring  gales  of 
heaven,  going  down  to  unborn  generations,  carry- 
ing with  it  the  same  blood-bought  blessings  which 
it  has   brought  down  to  us.     God  bless  it !     God 
bless  it  !  !     God  bless  it  !  !  !    as  it  floats  down  to 
the  future  !  God  make  it  in  all  time  to  come,  what 
it  has  been  to  generations  past,  and  what  it  is 
still  to  us  ! 

The  place  where  we  are   now  assembled,  my 
5 


98  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    MADISON. 

friends,  is  holy  ground.  "This  is  none  other  than 
the  house  of  God  ;  this  is  the  very  gate  of  heav- 
en." Here  have  our  fathers  often  met  to  record 
their  vows  before  "  the  Most  High."  Here  have 
they  often  gathered  around  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
and  with  broken  hearts,  partaken  of  the  symbols 
of  his  love.  Here  have  they  met  God  in  his  holy 
temple.  Here  have  they  enjoyed  the  visitations 
of  divine  grace.  Here  have  they  met  to  revive 
their  Christian  graces — "  to  trim  their  lamps,  and 
to  gird  up  their  loins  ;"  to  gather  consolation  and 
support  under  their  trials,  and  to  prepare  them- 
selves from  time  to  time  for  the  great  conflict  of 
life.  Here  have  they  often  sat  together  "  in  these 
heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  enjoyed 
sweet  foretastes  of  heaven  ;  and  from  this  sacred 
mount  of  privilege  have  they  gone  up,  one  by  one, 
to  join  "the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the 
first-born,  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven." 
Not  far  from  where  we  are  now  assembled,  their 
precious  remains  have  been  intrusted  to  the  earth, 
until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  The  church 
of  God,  which  was  precious  in  their  eyes,  with 
all  its  various  instrumentalities  and  agencies, 
with  all  its  ordinances  and  means  of  grace,  they 


PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    MADISON.  99 

have  most  solemnly  given  in  trust  unto  us  ;  and 
toe  have  been  honored  with  a  place  in  the  succes- 
sion of  these  Christian  worthies.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, may  we  not,  with  propriety,  each  one 
for  himself,  declare:  "  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jeru- 
salem, let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning :  If 
I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave  to 
the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem 
above  my  chief  joy"  ?  And  shall  we  not,  on  this 
thanksgiving  morning,  with  our  minds  refreshed 
with  the  contemplation  of  the  faithfulness  and  lov- 
ing kindness  of  God  towards  us  as  a  people,  "  set 
up  our  Ebenezer,"  as  Samuel  did,  and  with  glad 
hearts  and  voices,  say,  "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us"  ?  And  with  the  Psalmist,  shall  we 
not  add,  "  I  will  extol  thee,  my  God,  0  King,  and 
I  will  bless  thy  name  for  ever  and  ever.  One 
generation  shall  praise  thy  works  to  another,  and 
shall  declare  thy  mighty  acts.  Praise  the  Lord, 
0  Jerusalem !  Praise  thy  God,  0  Zion  !  For 
he  hath  strengthened  the  bars  of  thy  gates  ;  he 
hath  blessed  thy  children  within  thee.  Let  Israel 
rejoice  in  him  that  made  him — let  the  children  of 
7Jon  be  joyful  in  their  king.  For  the  Lord  taketh 
pleasure  in  his  people ;  he  will  beautify  the  meek 
with  salvation." 


APPENDIX 


MINISTERS. 

Rev.  Nehemiah  Greenman. 1750 

Azariah  Ilorton 1752 

Aaron  Richards  1777 

Ebenezer  Bradford   1779 

Alexander  Miller 1782 

Asa  Hillyer l~*\) 

Matthew  La  Rue  Perrine 1801 

John  G.  Bergen 1810 

Daniel  Beers   1829 

Alexander  G.  Frazer  1 832 

Clifford  S.  Arms   1833 

S.  S.  Hughson 1852 

John  M.  Johnson    185:', 

Samuel  L.  Tuttle    1854 


103 


101- 


APPENDIX. 


RULING  ELDERS. 


John  Pierson, 1758 

Sylvenus  Hedges 1780 

Joseph  Wood >•   ...   17  G5 

Paul  Day 1765 

Ephraim  Sayre 17S3 

Moses  Allen 178G 

Jonathan  Nichols    . . 

Jacob  Bonnel 

Stephen  Day , 

Jonathan  Thompson  . 

Enos  Ward 

Jonathan  Bruen  .... 
Samuel  Muchmore  . . 

Aaron  Burnet 

Lum  Foster " 

Israel  Lum 1807 

Benjamin  Thompson 1803 

Stephen  Day  " 


1789 

1790 

u 

a 

1795 

1800 

a 

1804 


William  Thompson 1810 

John  J.  Conkling 1819 

Charles  Carter " 

Philip  Coekrem .. .     '; 

Zophar  Freeman 1825 

Obadiah  Crane, " 

Lewis  Thompson " 

William  Crowell 1826 

Ichabod  Bruen  " 

Benjamin  Crane 1831 

Ellis  C.  Thompson " 

John  S.  Beach " 

Ira  Burnet   " 

William  P.  Conklin 1844 

Ashbel  Carter " 

George  Cole,  M.D 1854 

William  M.  Muchmore  . .     " 
Albert  Carter " 


DEACONS. 


Sylvenus  Hedges 1758 

John  Pierson 1760 

Paul  Day 1765 

Joseph  Wood " 

Jonathan  Thompson  ....   1799 

Ephraim  Sayre " 

Samuel  Muchmore 1804 

Moms  Allen 1819 


William  Thompson 1826 

Zophar  Freeman " 

William  Crowell 1834 

Ichabod  Bruen " 

Caleb  C.  Burroughs 1854 

David  M.  Force " 

Amza  W.  Genung  " 


APPENDIX. 


105 


ASSESSORS,  COLLECTORS,  AND  TRUSTEES. 


Daniel  Day 1757 

Horrick  Benjamin " 

Obadiah  Lurn " 

Thomas  Genung " 

David  Corey 1758 

Paul  Day u 

Benjamin  Ladner    M 

Josiah  Miller 1759 

William  Burnet  ........  " 

Nathaniel  Bonnel 1760 

Thomas  Day <; 

Silas  Hand " 

Isaac  Winans '. . . .  1761 

Benjamin  Day " 

Stephen  Day " 

Stephen  Hand,  Jun " 

Aaron  Burnet,  Jun l< 

Jabez  Foster " 

Nathan  Wilkinson " 

Aaron  Burnet 1762 

Joseph  Day " 

James  Tichenor 1763 

John  Pierson " 

Abraham  Corey 1764 

Luke  Carter. 1765 

Joseph  Foster " 

Joseph  Winget " 

James  Burnet 1766 

Ellis  Cook 1767 

Ananias  Halsey     " 

5* 


John  Harris 1767 

Thomas  Bonnel   " 

David  Bruen 1768 

David  Ward " 

Benjamin  Carter 1769 

Samuel  Frost 1770 

Jacob  Morrel " 

Theophilus  Miller 1771 

Enos  Ward " 

Josiah  Hand u 

Josiah  Broadwell 1772 

Jonathan  Thompson  ....  1774 

Elias  Bruen " 

George  Carter " 

John  Bonnel " 

Aaron  Carter 1775 

Joseph  Wood 1777 

John  Dixon 1778 

Israel  Ward " 

Josiah  Burnet " 

SethCiwell  " 

John  Roberts 1780 

Ephraim  Sayrc " 

Joseph  Miller " 

David  Ward,  Jun " 

William  Butler  1783 

Thomas  Carter 1784 

Uzal  Corey " 

Thomas  Coyle 17S5 

Jonathan  Nichols " 


106 


APPENDIX. 


John  Crowell 1789 

Foster  Horton 1790 

John  Blanchard " 

Daniel  Burnet " 

Thaddeus  Day " 

Benjamin  Cook   1791 

Luther  Howell " 

James  Donaldson 1792 

William  Day    " 

Samuel  Gardner " 

Moses  Allen " 

Jacob  Bonnel 1793 

Jonathan  Bruen 1795 

Samuel  Denman " 

Samuel  Much  more " 

Joseph  Bruen " 

Philip  Cockrem 1797 

Simeon  Broadwell 1800 

Thomas  Eddy » 

Stephen  Day,  Jun 1801 

Archibald  Sayre 1802 

William  Brittin ,  1803 

Benjamin  Bruen " 

Silas  Ward " 

Nathaniel  Roberts " 

William  Thompson 1804 

Ichabod  Bruen " 

Matthias  Ward " 

Abraham  Burnet " 

Luke  Miller 1805 

Elias  Woodruff " 

Silas  Jaggers « 

Aaron  Burne  t <•' 

William  Eddy 1806 

Elijah  Ward " 

William  Spencer " 

John  Ward 1807 


Flavel  Woodruff 180S 

Daniel  Crane " 

Luke  Carter " 

Samuel  Denman " 

John  Caldwell " 

Caleb  Blanchard " 

Ebenezer  C.  Pierson 1809 

David  Bowers 1810 

Elias  Howell 1811 

Benjamin  L.  Day 1816 

Benjamin  P.  Lum 1819 

Lewis  Carter 1821 

Samuel  Roberts " 

Jeptha  B.  Munn,  M.D 1822 

Thomas  Darling 1824 

Isaac  Brittin " 

Benjamin  Douglass 1827 

William  Sayre " 

Aaron  Carter 1828 

Samuel  P.  Thomas 1830 

Stephen  P.  Stiles " 

Ellis  C.  Thompson " 

Ashbel  Carter « 

Ashbel  Bruen " 

WickliffH.Genung " 

David  Burnet,  Jun 1832 

Collin  Robinson " 

Walter  Sturges " 

JohnB.  Miller " 

Henry  P.  Green,  M.D.  . .  1833 

Abraham  Brittin 1836 

Isaac  Mills   1838 

Robert  Albright " 

Amza  W.  Genung 1839 

Luther  Eddy " 

Ezra  Howell 1810 

William  P.  Conklin     " 


APPENDIX. 


107 


Matthias  L.  Burnet 1840 

Stephen  D.  Hunting 1841 

Henry  Keep 1 S42 

Ira  Burnet 1848 

Charles  Ross " 

George  T.  Sayre 1851 ' 

Benjamin  Birclsall  ......  " 

George  E.  Sayre,, 1852 


James  Albright 1853 

Joseph  S.  Fayre 1S54 

Samuel  Roberts,  Jun '' 

William  W.  Beach " 

William  M,  Muchmore ...  " 

Albert  Carter '•' 

David  M.  Force  1855 


Copy  of  the  First  Minute  Entered   upon  the  Records  of  this  Parish 

''South  hauover  Wednesday  yp  7ln  of  September  Anno  D  17T.7, 

At  a  meating  appointed  and  met  at  the  meating  house  and  pro- 
eeaded  in  the  folowing  manor,  By  way  of  Voats — 

Aaron  Burnet  moderator  Stephen  Morehouse,  Clark 
Obadlah  Lum  &  thomas  geanung  assessors  Daniel  Day  and  horiek 
Benjamin  Collectors  Voated  that  Mr  horton  shall  have  Seventy 
pound  Sallery  for  ye  conieing  yeare  Paul  Day  and  Benjamin 
Ladnor  appointed  to  make  up  acounts  with  all  ye  Collectors  for 
several  years  past  and  to  Endeavor  that  all  old  Rearages  in  Mr 
hortons  Rats  (rates)  Be  made  good  to  him  thomas  Day  Esq  appoint- 
ed to  Secure  a  Deed  for  a  Certain  acre  of  Land  wich  has  Ben  pur- 
chased of  David  hamelton  or  Else  the  money  to  Be  Rated  Benja- 
min Ladnor  appointed  to  keep  as  a  trustea  all  the  writings  Be- 
longing to  this  Congregation  " 

Jin   Extract  from  the  Parish  Records  in  reference  to  Psalmody. 

'■  thursday  Janur  y"  11th  1759 

at  a  meating  appointed  and  met  at  this  house  and  passed  ye  fol- 
lowing voats  namely  1  that  yc  Rear1  Mr  Joans  should  Be  moder- 
ator and  y"  Reavd  Mrs.  (Messrs.)  Horton  and  Elenmore  preasent  to 
in  the  Settling  of  the  Diferances  Relating  to  ye  Psalms 
2  that  we  shall  no  more  Sing  Both  Vertions  as  formerly  But  that 
we  Shall  now  pass  a  Voat  wich  shall  be  Sung  hully  3  Voated 
that  Wats's  Vertion  shall  be  Sung  here  hully  for  time  to  come 
then  Dismissed  ye  Rear1  Mrs.  (Messrs.)  Joans,  horton  and  Elenmore 


APPENDIX.  109 

and  Voated  Ct.  Bonncl  moderator,  and  Samuel  fraust    & 

Isaad  Winana  to  Lead  the  psalm-tune Voated  to  have  pues 

Built  all  Round  this  house  and  Seats  in  ye  midle " 

Copy  of  the  Minutes  in  reference  to  the  finishing  of  the  old  Meeting  House 

'■'•  Wednsday  September  the  5  year  1764  South  hanover 

At  a  parish  meeting  appointed  and  raett  att  this  house  and 
passed  the  following  votes  viz  Chose  Beniamin  Day  Esquire  mod- 
erator 

Stephen  hand  Jr.  Clark — Josiah  miller  and  James  tichenor  as- 
sessors Ben  Day  Esquy  and  ahraham  Corey  Collectors — voted 
that  Josiah  Broadwell  Esqy  and  Jacob  morral  shall  have  Liberty 
to  Build  a  pue  at  the  West  End  of  the  house  voted  that  the  old 
Committee  Be  Dissolved  voted  That  Beniamin  Day  Esqy  and 
Thomas  genong  and  Josiah  miller  Be  a  new  Committee  for  to 
have  the  Care  of  the  finishing  of  the  meeting  house" 

Monday  Septemb1"  the  J2. 4th  yr  1764  att  a  parish  meeting  ap- 
pointed and  met  at  this  house  and  passed  the  folowing  votes  viz 
Chose  Decon  John  pierson  moderator 

1  voted  that  Josiah  Broadwell  and  Jacob  morral  Shall  Build  a 
pue  at  the  west  end  of  the  Meeting  house  adjoyning  to  the  corner 
pue 

2  voted  that  David  Bruing  Do  Build  a  pue  next  To  Mr  Broad- 
well 

3  voted  that  Silas  hand  Do  Build  a  pue  next  to  Mr  Bruing 

4  voted  that  Josiah  hand  and  William  Burnet  Do  Build  a  pue 
in  the  front  gallery  over  the  mens  stairs 

5  voted  Aaron  Burnet  Jr  do  Build  a  pue  in  the  front  gallery 
next  to  Josiah  hand  and  William  Burnet 

6  voted  that  Josiah  miller  and  Luke  Carter  Do  Build  the  third 
pue  in  the  front  gallery 

7  voted  that  James  tichenor  and  Samuel  Robbarts  Do  Build 
the  fourth  pue  in  the  front  gallery  over  the  womans  stairs 

8  voted  that  Beniamin  Sayres  and  Stephen  Robbarts  Do  Build 
the  first  pue  in  the  East  End  gallery  next  to  the  stairs 


110  APPENDIX. 

9  voted  that  Israel  ward  and  neherniah  Carter  Do  Build  the 
third  pue  in  the  East  End  gallery 

N.  B  all  the  aforsaid  votes  were  Carried  in  the  affirmative  when 
the  greater  part  of  the  Congregation  were  present " 

Other  Short  Extracts  from  the  Parish  Records. 

"  Southanover  September  the  3J  year  1771 

voted  at  the  anual  meeting  appointed  according  to  obligation 
and  passed  the  following  votes  viz  voted  David  Bruing  moderator 
and  Stephen  hand  Jr  Clark 

voted  that  Thomas  genong  Elis  Cook  Abraham  Corey  and 
Samuel  frost  give  mr  horton  Jointly  a  Bond  for  what  is  Due  to 
him  By  his  old  Arrears  and  to  take  the  old  arrears  or  accompts 
in  Lue  thereof  and  to  Colect  the  Same  in  any  manner  they  Think 
Best 

voted  David  ward  and  Josiah  hand  assessors  Theophilus  miler 
and  Enos  ward  Colectors'' 

••  1776  at  a  meeting  Appointed  and  held  here  in  this  house 
Called  the  Southanover  parish  meeting  house  on  wensday  the  4th 
day  of  September  and  passed  the  following  votes  viz  Chose  Decon 
paul  day  moderator  Chose  David  Bruing  James  Burnet  and  paul 
day  a  Committee  to  go  to  the  prisbittery  with  mr  horton  the 
second  tuesday  in  October  next  Insuing  upon  the  parrish  affairs'' 

"At  a  Parrish  meeting  held  at  the  South  Hanover  meeting  house 
May  24  1779 — voted  Joseph  Wood  Esq  moderator — Voted  that 
the  pasnige  house  and  home  lot  should  not  be  hired  out 

voted  that  Stephen  Day  Esquier  and  John  Blanchard  and  Caleb 
Rusel  should  setle  with  the  manegcrs  of  the  Lottery 

voted  that  one  of  the  Committy  Should  Carrey  the  Letter  that 
mr  green  rote  to  Mr  Bradford  and  they  that  voted  for  it  to  bee 
att  the  expense. 

voted  that  that  piece  of  pasnige  by  Jonathan  Thompson  should 
be  hired  out 

voted  that  we  should  get  mr  green  to  preach  a  Sermon  for  us 
one  Sabath  and  mr  Elmore  the  other 

voted  that  Ephraim  Sear  should  assist  in  tuning  the  Salm" 


APPENDIX.  Ill 

"  May  ye  28  1779  this  Day  whas  rented  out  by  the  Committy 
for  the  use  of  the  parrish  that  piece  of  pasnedge  land  by  Jonathan 
Thompson  to  Aaron  Carter  by  Public  Yandew  for  G2  pound  for 
wich  he  is  to  improve  it  to  the  first  of  December  next  from  the  date 
above  riten" 

"  At  a  Parrish  meeting  held  at  South  Hanover  meeting  House  on 
March  28th  1780  Joseph  Wood  Esq  moderator 

Voted  that  a  sallery  of  One  Hundred  and  Forty  Pounds  New 
Jersey  Currency  (to  be  paid  Old  way)  is  to  be  raised  for  Mr 
Bradford  for  one  year  exclusive  of  the  Parsonage  and  his  being 
found  in  wood 

voted  that  a  committee  be  chosen  for  taking  care  of  the  Par- 
sonage and  see  what  wants  doing  and  to  employ  some  person  to 
do  it 

voted  that  some  Person  be  chose  to  take  care  of  the  meeting 
House  and  to  Keep  it  Swept  and  Clean  it  David  Laurence  Chose 
and  also  Keep  the  Doors  Shutt 

voted  that  Contributions  be  Kept  up  every  Sabbath  and  David 
Bruen  to  Receive  the  contribution  money" 

11  April  26  1785  —voted  that  Jonathan  Nichols  is  to  have  the 
care  of  the  Meeting  house  to  Shutt  the  Doors  and  Windows  and  to 
sweep  and  Sand  it  once,  a  month  for  which  he  is  to  have  twenty 
five  shillings  per  year" 

"  June  7  179 -1 — voted  that  Jonathan  Nichols  shall  have  sixpence 
on  the  Pound  for  Collecting  the  Salery  —  also  that  the  collections 
shall  be  quarterly  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  all  the  Delinquents 
Shall  have  Notis  to  pay  Within  thirty  Days  or  have  their  Names 
Returned  to  a  Justis  of  peace" 

•;  March  1G  1795  — voted  that  Mr  Hillyer  shall  have  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  Pounds  for  his  salary  in  addition  to  the  parsonage 
and  his  fire  wood'7 

"  South  Hanover  July  22  1301 

At  a  Parish  meeting  Jacob  Bonnel  was  chosen  Moderator  and 
Jonathan  Bruen  clerk 


112  APPENDIX. 

Mr  Hillyer  having  previously  informed  the  congregation  that 
after  serious  and  mature  deliberation  he  thought  it  was  his  duty 
to  request  the  Presbytery  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  relation  to  this 
Church,  desired  the  Congregation  to  unite  with  him  in  this 
request. 

The  Congregation  with  inexpressible  pleasure  recapitulated  Mr 
Hillyer's  various  Ministerial  services  and  the  uninterrupted  Har- 
mony and  Friendship  that  had  subsisted  between  them  and  with 
mournful  dejeGtion  were  constrained  to  anticipate  their  afflicted 
situation  should  so  near  a  relation  be  dissolved  5  and  although  it 
would  be  the  unanimous  wish  of  the  Congregation  that  Mr  Hil- 
lyer should  continue  to  be  their  pastor,  if  he  could  see  it  to  be  his 
duty  and  feel  himself  contented  and  happy  with  them  —  yet  as  he 
appears  to  be  conscious  that  he  has  a  Call  in  Providence  to  leave 
them  and  can  no  longer  be  contented  in  his  present  situation  — 
the  Congregation  sincerely  desirous  of  the  happiness  and  prosper- 
ity of  Mr  Hillyer  and  his  family,  taking  into  view  his  request 
were  not  disposed  to  urge  him  to  continue  to  be  their  pastor. 
Therefore  resolved  unanimously  to  concur  with  him  in  requesting 
the  Presbytery  at  their  next  meeting  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  rela- 
tions between  Mr  Hillyer  and  this  Church. 

Jacob  Bonnel  was  appointed  a  commissioner  to  represent  this 
congregation  and  to  lay  the  above  resolution  before  the  Presbytery 
at  New  York  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  August  next/' 

"August  31.  1811  Rev  Matthew  La  Line  Pcrrine  presented  a 
communication  addressed  to  the  Moderator  in  which  he  expressed 
his  desire  to  be  dismissed  from  the  pastoral  care  of  this  Church 
and  the  hope  that  the  Parish  would  not  oppose  him  in  this  wish 
— whereupon  the  congregation  voted  neither  to  favor  or  oppose 
Mr.  Pcrrine  in  reference  to  this  matter  —  but  to  leave  it  wholly 
to  himself  and  the  Presbytery." 

"  The  parish  appointed  William  Brittin,  Elijah  Ward  and  Ebe- 
nezer  C.  Pierson  to  procure  supplies  for  the  pulpit  in  case  Mr 
Perrine  is  dismissed/' 

"  They  agree  to  give  to  settled  ministers  three  dollars  and  to 


APPENDIX.  lid 

unsettled  ministers  six  dollars  a  sabbath  for  their  services  in  sup- 
plying the  pulpit." 

"They  elected  Ephrairn  Sayres  to  furnish  entertainment  for  the 
supplies' of  the  pulpit/' 

Dec  21.  1811 

u  The  parish  unanimously  agreed  to  give  to  Mr  Perrine  a  new 
call  to  become  their  pastor  and  to  offer  him  six  hundred  dollars  a 
year  salary  together  with  thirty  cords  of  good  merchantable  wood. 
The  Committee  to  prosecute  the  call  consisted  of  Elias  Howell  and 
Benjamin  Thompson." 

"  May  1.  1812  The  Committee  to  prosecute  the  above  call  re- 
ported that  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  Mr  Per- 
rine had  concluded  not  to  renew  his  engagement  as  the  pastor  of 
this  Church." 

August  11.  1828  Resolved  —  In  view  of  Rev  Mr  Bergens  re- 
quest to  be  dismissed  from  the  pastoral  care  of  this  Church --that 
while  Fa  large  proportion  of  this  congregation  are  still  strongly 
attached  to  their  pastor  and  deeply  regret  the  circumstances 
which  have  led  him  to  request  them  to  unite  with  him  in  asking  a 
dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation  subsisting  between  himself  and 
them  —  they  will  make  no  opposition  to  his  taking  such  a  course 
as  he  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Presbytery  may  think  it  his 
duty  to  pursue." 

"  May  29.  1851  An  application  having  been  placed  before  the 
Congregation  by  Rev  C.  S.  Arms  for  the  appointment  of  commis- 
sioners to  unite  with  him  in  requesting  to  be  dismissed  from  the 
pastoral  care  of  this  Church  —  the  following  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted — 

1.  Resolved  That  we  cherish  a  high  sense  of  the  value  and  im- 
portance of  the  past  services  of  Mr  Arms  during  his  long  and  suc- 
cessful labors  among  us  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  we  rejoice 
to  bear  testimony  to  his  fidelity  and  uniform  devotion  to  his  work, 
and  to  his  pastoral  care,  in  his  readiness  ever  to  sympathise  with 


114  APPENDIX. 

the  afflicted,  cheer  the  desponding,  comfort  the  sorrowing,  relieve 
the  distressed,  and  point  the  inquiring  soul  to  the  Savior  of  sin- 
ners. And  we  also  bear  testimony  to  his  unimpeachable  character 
as  a  man,  as  a  citizen,  always  studying  the  things  that  make  for 
peace. 

2.  Resolved  That  we  deeply_  sympathise  with  Mr  Arms  in  the 
failure  of  his  health ;  and  regret  the  existence  of  any  circum- 
stances which  render  it  necessary  in  his  judgment  to  seek  the  dis- 
solution of  his  pastoral  relation. 

3.  Resolved  That  while  wre  feel  constrained  to  acquiesce  in  his 
request,  it  gives  us  pleasure  to  express  our  undiminished  confi- 
dence in  him  as  a  man,  a  christian  and  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  we  would  follow  him  with  our  prayers  and  best  wishes  for  his 
future  usefulness  and  comfort  wherever  the  Lord  in  his  Provi- 
dence shall  call  him  to  labor. 

4.  Remembering  the  many  years  that  Mr  Arms  has  labored 
with  this  people,  and  in  view  of  the  impaired  state  oil  his  health 
in  which  he  retires  from  us,  we  feel  it  to  be  an  act  of  justice  to 
him  and  a  pleasure  to  ourselves  to  offer  him  a  substantial  token 
of  our  esteem." 


Residences  of  the  first  settlers  in  and  about  Jiladison. 

"  Benjamin  Carter  the  first,  resided  on  the  place  opposite  the 
toll  gate,  since  occupied  by  Capt  Mallaby.  His  son,  of  the  same 
name,  lived  in  the  house  which  was  burned  down  a  few  years 
since  near  the  railroad,  and  which  has  been  occupied  more  re- 
cently by  Mr  Joseph  Burrall.  Jeremiah  Genung  lived  at  East 
Madison  on  the  place  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Storrs.  Luke  Carter 
resided  on  the  place  owned  by  his  grandson,  Mr  Ashbel  Carter. 
Josiah  Miller  occupied  the  house  which  has  since  been  the  resi- 
dence of  his  son  Major  Luke  Miller.  Theophilus  Miller  resided 
on  what  was  afterwards  the  homestead  of  Deacon  Ephraim  Sayre. 
Stephen  Hand  occupied  an  old  house  which  stood  where  Mr 
George  E.  Sayre  now  lives.  Abraham  Cory  lived  on  the  property 
now  occupied  by  Mahlon  Carter  in  East  Madison.  David  Cory 
lived  where  William  W.  Tunis  now  resides.  Silas  Hand  occupied 
the  house  where  Mr  John  Knapp  now  lives. '  Josiah  Hand  lived 


APPENDIX.  115 

where  his  stepson,  the  late  John  Hancock,  formerly  resided. 
Lemuel  Hedges  lived  where  his  grandson,  Samuel  Hedges,  now 
resides.  Zebedee  Potter  lived  on  the  property  since  occupied  by 
the  late  Calvin  Howell.  Mosses  Potter  occupied  the  old  house 
in  the  lot  beyond  the  residence  of  John  Johnston,  belonging  to 
Lavielle  Deberseau.  James  Burnet  lived  on  the  corner  now 
occupied  by  the  Presbyterian  Parsonage.  Aaron  Burnet — the 
father  of  James,  resided  near  the  factory  of  David  L  Miller. 
Horick  Benjamin  resided  on  the  site  of  Mr.  Lathrop's  farm  house, 
near  the  pine  tree.  Jonathan  Thompson  resided  at  first  in  the 
vicinity  of  David  L.  Miller's  factory,  but  afterwards  on  the  site  of 
Mr.Lathrop's  farm  house,  in  which  Mr.  Benjamin  had  lived  before 
him.  Samuel  Roberts  the  first,  settled  on  the  property  now  occu- 
pied by  his  grandson  Joseph  Ptoberts,  on  the  road  leading  to 
Greenvillage.  Stephen  Easton  lived  a  little  below  the  house 
now  occupied  by  David  M.  Pierson.  John  Easton  resided  on  the 
property  afterwards  occupied  by  Vincent  Boisaubin,  but  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  A.M.  Treadwell.  John  Muchmore,  father 
of  Deacon  Samuel  and  John  T.  Muchmore,.  lived  on  the  place  for- 
merly occupied  by  Stephen  Easton,  but  now  by  David  M.  Pierson, 
on  Cherry  Hill.  Joseph  Wingate  resided  on  the  farm  belonging 
to  the  estate  of  the  late  Ashbel  Bruen,  on  the  road  leading  from 
Union  Hill  to  Green  village.  Daniel,  Thomas,  Stephen  and  Dea- 
con Paul  Day,  all  resided  in  the  vicinity  of  the  brook  between 
Union  Hill  and  Chatham  village.  David  Bruen,  the  grandfather 
of  Alexander  and  Deacon  Ichabod,  resided  on  the  property  for- 
merly occupied  by  Benjamin  Carter,  by  the  toll  gate.  Joseph 
Bruen,  father  of  Alexander  and  Ichabod,  resided  on  the  hill  be- 
tween the  residences  of  the  Widow  Samson  and  Elias  Bruen. 
Jabez  Linsley  lived  on  the  hill  opposite  the  residence  of  the  late 
Benjamin  Marsh.  Benjamin  Ladner  occupied  the  place  next 
east  of  the  homestead  of  Deacon  C.  C.  Burroughs.  William 
Butler  lived  in  a  house  that  is  still  standing  between  the  old 
road  and  the  railroadj  nearly  opposite  the  residence  of  Charles 
Marsh.  Obadiah  Lunn  occupied  the  property  which  after- 
wards belonged  to  Theophilus  Miller,  and  still  more  recently  to 
Deacon  Ephraim  Sayre.    David,  Thomas  and  Israel  Ward  lived 


110  APPENDIX. 

between  Chatham  village  and  Union  Hill.  Nathaniel  Bonnel 
resided  near  the  mills  now  owned  by  Crane  Bonnel.  John  Bonnel 
lived  near  the  grist  mill  a  little  south  of  the  village  of  Chatham- 
Thomas  Genung  occupied  the  property  now  owned  by  his  grand- 
son Deacon  A.  W.  Genung.  Benjamin  Harris  lived  in  a  house 
which  is  yet  standing  next  east  of  the  house  formerly  belonging  to 
Deacon  Ephraim  Sayre.  Deacon  Joseph  Wood  lived  in  a  small 
house  which  stood  on  the  site  of  John  B.  Miller's  present  res- 
idence. Benjamin  Burroughs  lived  on  the  farm  which  has  since 
belonged  to  Baxter  Sayre.  Ellis  Cook  lived  on  the  south  east 
corner  by  the  academy.  Aaron  Carter  resided  where  his  son 
Aaron  now  lives  in  Union  Hill.  Captain  John  Blanchard 
lived  where  Ywlliarn  Young  now  resides.  Jacob  Morrell,  son-in- 
law  of  the  first  pastor  of  the  church  in  Madison,  resided  on  the 
site  of  the  Presbyterian  Parsonage  in  Chatham  village.  Foster 
Horton,  son  of  the  first  pastor  aforesaid,  lived  on  the  place  ad- 
joining the  residence  of  Mr.  Morrell,  towards  the  river  ;  and  there 
it  was  that  the  Rev.  Azariah  Horton  and  Eunice  his  wife  both 
"  saw  the  last  of  earth." 

MADISON  IN  1854. 

The  village  of  Madison  now  contains  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dwelling  houses  ;  six  stores  ;  one  large  umbrella  manufac- 
tory owned  by  Mr.  Henry  Keep ;  fifteen  or  sixteen  shops ;  one 
Presbyterian  church  ;  a  Presbyterian  Lecture  Room  ;  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  ;  a  Roman  Catholic  church  ;  an  academy  ;  one 
hotel,  called  the  u  Yfaverly  House,"  and  kept  by  Col.  Stephen  D. 
Hunting ;  a  Post  office  ;  a  railroad  depot ;  and  a  large  and  very 
commodious  village  hall,  called  "  the  Oriental  Hall,"  which  has 
been  erected  during  the  last  year  by  members  of  the  "Odd  Fellows' 
Association." 

A  new  Protestant  Episcopal  church  has  just  been  organized  in 
the  village  ;  and  an  edifice  is  to  be  erected  for  their  accommodation 
during  the  coming  season,  on  the  lot  south-east  of  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Augustus  D.  Blanchet,  which  has  already  been  purchased 
for  that  purpose  ;  the  society,  for  the  present,  worshipping  in  the 
i(  Oriental  Hall." 


APPENDIX  117 

The  ministers  now  located  in  the  village  are  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Gaskill,  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  ;  the  Rev.  John 
A.  Jerome,  pastor  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  ;  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Michael  Madden  and  Patrick  McGovern,  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  L.  Tuttle,  of  the  Presby- 
terian church. 

The  scenery  in  and  about  the  village  is  among  the  most  attrac- 
tive to  be  found  any  where  in  our  country ;  while  its  extraordinary 
healthfullness,  and  its  facilities  for  travelling,  by  means  of  the 
Morris  and  Essex  Railroad,  which  passes  through  the  very  heart 
of  it,  combine  to  render  it  one  of  the  most  desirable  places  for 
residence  to  be  found  anywhere  in  this  vicinity. 

[From  the  Palladium  of  Liberty. ] 

Reception  of  Lafayette  at  Bottle  Hill. 
General  Lafayette  left  Morristown  at  an  early  hour  on  Friday, 
the  loth  inst..  and  arrived  at  the  house  of  Col.  S.  D.  Hunting  at 
about  half  past  7  o'clock,  A.  M.,  where  the  citizens,  numbering 
about  200,  and  the,  scholars  of  the  school,  had  been  anxiously 
awaiting  his  arrival  for  more  than  an  hour ;  his  arrival  in  the 
village  being  announced  by  the  firing  of  cannon  and  the  ringing 
of  bells.  When  he  arrived  at  the  house  appointed  for  his  recep- 
tion, he  was  waited  upon  by  the  committee,  Col.  Wm.  Brittin  and 
Col.  S.  D.  Hunting,  and  conducted  under  an  arch  tastefully 
arranged,  and  decorated  with  evergreens,  into  the  house,  where 
refreshments  were  bountifully  spread.  The  Rev.  John  G.  Bergen 
then  addressed  the  General  as  follows :  "  Revered  and  Honored 
Father,  we  give  you  a  hearty  welcome  to  our  happy  land.  As  a 
minister  of  Christ  I  address  you.  With  my  parishioners,  I  have 
come  to  yield  you  our  congratulations,  as  the  early  patriot  of  our 
country,  the  early  companion  of  our  beloved  Washington,  now  no 
more.  Honourable  Sir :  May  the  highest  felicity  attend  you 
during  your  stay  in  our  happy  land!  May  the  protection  of 
Heaven  bear  you  safely  on  the  waves  of  the  Ocean  to  the  bosom  of 
your  family,  and  the  blessings  of  God  reston  you  forever,  through 
Jesus  Christ !"  To  which  the  General  replied  :  "  Accept,  dear 
Sir,  my  congratulations  for  yourself,  your  village  and  your  coun- 


118  APPENDIX. 

try.  and  my  thanks  for  your  kind  desires  for  my  welfare/'  The 
General  was  then  conducted  into  an  adjoining  room,  where  the 
Ladieswere  assembled  ;  where,  also,  the  young  Misses  of  the  Acad- 
emy were  arranged,  dressed  in  white,  and  tastefully  adorned 
with  flowers  and  evergreens,  under  the  care  of  their  Teacher, 
John  T.  Derthick.  As  soon  as  they  were  presented  to  the  notice 
of  the  General,  thirteen  of  them,  representing  the  thirteen  orig- 
inal States,,  stepped  out,  and,  in  concert,  all  as  one,  pronounced 
the  following  address,  in  a  clear,  distinct,  and  impressive  manner  : 


All  hail  to  the  Hero  !    Columbia's  great  friend, 
Whose  fame  will  resound  till  creation  shall  end  ; 
Now  welcome,  thrice  welcome,  to  our  happy  clime. 
Where  Virtue  is  honoured  in  Freedom  sublime. 

You  sought  us  when  weak,  and  you  found  us  when  poor, 
But  now  we  are  strong  and  the  conflict  is  o'er  ; 
We  tender  our  homage,  extend  you  our  hands, 
And  gratitude  every  bosom  expands. 

The  loss  of  our  Washington  still  we  regret, 

But  almost  behold  him  in  thee,  Lafayette  ; 

And  could  his  good  spirit  now  look  from  the  dead, 

The  Heavens  would  scarcely  retain  the  blest  shade. 

Now  fare  you  well,  Father,  we  see  you  no  more, 
The  Ocean  will  bear  you  away  from  our  shore  : 
May  Fortune  attend  you  across  the  broad  main. 
Until  your  own  daughters  embrace  you  again  ! 


The  eyes  of  the  General  appeared  to  wander  over  and  survey 
the  interesting  group  ;  when  the  name  of  Washington  sounded  on 
his  ear  his  countenance  became  grave,  and  his  attention  appeared 
fixed,  as  if  holding  intercourse  with  the  spirit  of  the  departed 
■Washington.  Two  of  the  young  Misses  now  presented  each  a 
copy  of  their  address  to  him.  The  General  then  very  affection- 
ately addressed  the  scholars,  repeatedly  thanking  them  for  their 
attention  to  him,  for  their  friendly  address,  and  especially  for 
the  manner  of  delivering  it.  He  then  stood  for  a  moment,  as  if 
enjoying  the  scene,  till  his  attendants  interfered,  and  led  him  out 


APPENDIX.  119 

of  the  room.  Col.  Britain  then  conducted  him  to  where  there 
were  refreshments,  and,  after  an  interchange  of  good  feeling,  the 
General  was  conducted  to  his  carriage,  and  the  cavalcade  moved 
off  in  the  direction  of  Newark,  wdiere  he  was  to  be  next  re- 
ceived, &c. 

Extract  from  the  Parish  Records  in  reference  to  this  history. 

••  Jan  6.  1855 — Resolved  That  Rev.  Samuel  L.  Tuttle  be  re- 
quested to  furnish  a  copy  of  the  sermon  preached  by  him  on 
Thanksgiving  day  in  relation  to  the  history  of  this  church  and 
congregation  ;  and  that  the  Trustees  take  the  charge  of  its  pub- 
lication." 


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